The Other World: Dreams
by Silver4700
Summary: A castle in the sky. An eternal prison many want to escape. A swordsman clad in red. A quiet girl clad in grey. Two familiar ones of black and white. Lastly, a peculiar person who hides behind a mask. There is only one question to be asked: FIght to leave the prison...or stay in paradise.
1. Chapter 1: Observations

**I don't own SAO, or any characters associated with the original story. This is my interpretation, and a majority of the original characters, save for a select few, are my own.**

…

 _Chapter 1: Observations._

Sword Art Online. It was a name that had the most profound effect on others. For many, it struck fear into their hearts when they were reminded of the dark cybernetic prison. For others, hatred consumed them whenever the time spent in the virtual world as opposed to the real world was brought up. Many people wished that they could forget the event known as the Death Game.

I, however, see the floating castle in the sky as something else entirely. That place…It was a perfect world. It surpassed Reality in many more ways than one.

…

It was a rainy day when I went in to have a nice cup at what is now my favorite café. My trench coat fluttering in the rain and the wind, I brought my hands up to hold my hood over my head. The rest of my body was shivering from the cold water cascading on my back, but that didn't matter to me.

When I finally reached the nearest Café, I felt a small sigh of relief escape my mouth. Quickly, as to not get the inside wet with the heavy rain, I opened the door and swiftly stepped inside, closing it promptly behind me.

Exhausted from my journey here, I trudged over to one of the nearest window tables and plopped down.

Bored with the moment, I observed that there were only two other players in the restaurant.

One was a young man who seemed to be completely dressed in a deep red. His armor and cloak were obviously well cared for, despite seeming to be slightly aged. His long black hair made him seem like-

 _Stop it._ I told myself, swiftly looking away. _What gives you the right to observe someone to that extent?_

…My curiosity got the better of me however, and I snuck one more glance up at the player. His overall posture gave me the impression that he was…aggressive? Reserved? It was difficult to tell much when he was sitting down at that distance.

It was here when I realized he noticed me staring at him.

 _Crud._ I turned my attention to the wood at the table, trying to guess what it was made of. Anything that I could turn my attention to, away from person I was staring at, would do.

"How're you doing, Sir?" A voice asked me. Looking up, standing there at my table was one of the waitress' of this restaurant. Her voice was bright and cheerful, like her long blond hair. Her outfit was quite simple: a brown dress with a white apron was tied around her waist, where she was pulling a small pad of paper from one of the pockets.

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until she greeted me. Letting out a small unnoticeable breath, I responded, "Just fine. How are you?"

She nodded. "Pretty good, thanks for asking." She brought a feather quill to her paper. "Can I get you anything today?"

I originally was going to have some nice tea, but looking back out the window, seeing the pouring rain, I changed my decision.

I brought my attention back to her. "Could I please get a cup of Hazelnut Coffee with a dash of vanilla? Along with a small plate of diced potatoes, please."

Scribbling all this down, the waitress gave me an affirming nod. "Of course, sir! I'll be right out with those!" She then bowed, before retreating into the kitchen area. Wanting to not focus on the wait time it took to prepare my food, I opened my inventory and brought out my personal journal, starting to write.

 _Day 91,_

 _I finally found the location of the item I seek. As of writing this entry I am on Floor 5, the Ocean floor. From what I was able to gather, what I seek is on a small island somewhere within the 10 kilometers of water on this floor._

 _The floating town of Wileris, on a side note, has a nice little café. The atmosphere is nice and soothing. It reminds me a lot of_

My hand stopped writing. When I compared this café to the one in my memories, my mind and body froze. Times and memories were flooding into my head, as if writing that simple incomplete sentence lifted a latch causing massive floodgates to open.

I don't know how long I sat there, practically motionless, before a small drop fell on the papers of my journal. Followed by a couple more.

"Hey…is it alright if I sit here?

Bringing my head up and out of my stupor, I saw that it was the young woman who was with the man in red. She was wearing a rich blue garment, and she herself had long black hair.

I pulled back my hood in an effort to look presentable, though it was still wet from the outside rain. I quickly snapped my journal shut, putting it in one of the pockets of my trench coat before responding to her.

"Erm…of course you may." She nods in what I assume to be thanks before taking one of the chairs across from me.

"…" I had no idea what to say in this situation. It was rare that anyone actively asked to sit with me at a table. "Uh…can I order you something?"

While I was trying to get the words out, the young man in red also walked over and took the chair next to the young woman.

 _He's unlike her._ My mind went into overdrive. _She asks to take a seat, he doesn't. They're polar opposites, yet they seem to be at minimum good friends if he would follow her to this table. I wonder-_

 _Stop._ The other part of my brain scolded me. _Just stop._

"…Hello? Did you hear me?" The young woman seemed to almost want to wave a hand in front of my face. I blink a few times before letting out an awkward laugh.

"Er…my apologies. I lost myself in my thoughts. Could you…perhaps repeat what you said?"

She shook her head. "It's alright. I said that you didn't need to get me anything."

"Are-are you sure? It's no trouble to-to me. I can also get something for-for your friend." My stuttering kicked in when I tried to respond. Why does it always happen when I get nervous around people?

Why was I even nervous around these two?

"You were staring at me." The one in red spoke.

Probably because the one in red gave off an intimidating aura. I forced my mind to back down before I could observe anything else about him or her.

I took a deep breath before answering him. "I…I'm truly sorry, Sir. I have a bad habit of…staring…at people." To myself, my nervousness was obvious. They probably saw it too.

The young woman laughed. "Oh, there is no need to call him 'Sir.' I honestly don't think anyone has ever called Mataras that before." She gave him a little playful nudge as he gave her…well, it wasn't so intense to be a glare, but perhaps a look of annoyance.

So his name was Mataras…oh!

"I-I'm sorry, I haven't really introduced myself, have I?" I give them a small nod of what I hope comes across to them as respect. "My name is Phantom. And I presume that your name is Mataras?" I ask the man in red.

He gives me a small nod of affirmation. "Yea."

His companion gave me a smile. "Nice to meet you, Phantom. I'm Saphira."

It was at this moment that the waitress came back with my coffee and potatoes. "Here ya go, Sir. I hope you enjoy!" Noticing the two new players at my table, her curiosity got the better of her. "So, you two decided to switch tables." Turning her attention back to me, she asked, "Are they friends of yours?" 

A sort of sad smile found its way onto my face. "…I suppose so." Opening my menu to pay for the bill, I added a bit of extra while saying to her, "Here, take a tip. And if it isn't too much trouble, would you please get these two…" Eyeing them, I wondered aloud "…What do you two prefer, coffee or tea?"

Saphira's eyes slightly widened at what she heard. "Oh, you don't need to get us anything, Phantom."

I shake my head. "I insist. Besides, I'll be giving the equivalent money either way. You are the ones who decide whether it's to pay for a drink or not."

Mataras eyed me warily. "…Fine. Earl Grey tea, please."

Saphira looked between Mataras and I before letting out a sigh with a smile on her face. "…I'll get the same thing, please."

The waitress gave us all a warm smile. "Of course! That'll be a few minutes. Phantom, was it?" She gave me a small bow. "Thanks for the tip!"

I waved her off. "Don't mention it."

After She left, I turned my full attention back to the two players in front of me. "I hope I don't come off as rude," I started, taking a small sip of my coffee. "But why is it that two respectable people like yourselves want to associate with a stranger dripping with rainwater who just entered the door?"

Saphira seemed to think for a moment. "Well- "

"For one, like I said before, you were staring at me. We got curious." Mataras cut her off. "It doesn't help that you're the only other person in this restaurant."

It looked like Saphira wanted to almost scold Mataras for cutting her off like that, but before she could I intervened. "Pardon me, Mataras, but the persona and aura that you're giving off tells me that even then you aren't really one for social interaction all that much." It wasn't until the words escaped my mouth that I realized what I had done.

I actively told someone what I observed about them.

Mataras's eyes narrowed, almost glowering at me. "Well, you certainly are perceptive, aren't you?"

My words stumble out of my mouth. "Erm…I'm sor-sorry si- I mean, Mataras. Itjust stumbled ou-out." If they couldn't tell I was nervous a bit before, they could now.

"Why are you apologizing?" Saphira asked, curiosity gleaming in her eyes. I was going to answer, but it seemed that She meant that as a rhetorical question since she continued. "I mean, you're right though. It was mainly my own curiosity which brought us over here."

Before either of us could continue, the waitress came back over with their tea. "Here ya go, Sir, Madam." She gave them a smile and a bow. "I hope that you enjoy."

Mataras and Saphira gave their thanks to the waitress before she wandered back into the kitchen area.

Taking another sip of my own coffee, I heard Mataras say, "Well, the NPCs here are certainly well made."

I stopped mid-sip. Carefully putting the cup back down, my eyes lingered on the brown-white liquid that circled around the cup.

"People."

He looked up. "Hm?"

I was still staring at my cup's contents. "The _people_ here are certainly nice."

I didn't notice the confused looks the two gave me. I was busy lost in thoughts at that moment. Sitting here talking with these two people was certainly nice, don't get me wrong, but something else popped into my head after Mataras made that comment.

There was something I recalled that I needed to do. Something where I was planning on getting help anyways.

"Erm…" I broke the semi-awkward silence between us, bringing my head up. "If I might ask how high your level is?"

"High enough." Mataras answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Are you doing anything today?

 **THIS IS AN IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE, YOU SHOULD PLEASE READ**

 **Hello everyone!**

 **Wow, I haven't written anything like this on this site in a while. Anyways, Where to begin…**

 **This is my 3** **rd** **or 4** **th** **attempt at writing an SAO story, with every other attempt being either a wash or unfinished. This I hope doesn't end up like that, and while there are a couple of other stories that I hope to finish soon, I would like to get this particular idea out of head and on the paper.**

 **Anyways, to celebrate the recent release of SAO 3: Alicization, this story will be taking a LOT of inspiration from that story in a couple of different ways that will become apparent later on.**

 **Also, I just want to thank Mataras for letting me use his character of…well, Mataras and Saphira. He's always been one of my favorite fictional characters, so I hope I do him justice, along with Saphira.**

 **This story will be split into 3 seperate "books," with each covering, more or less, a different arc. Some may be from the original SAO story, or some may be inspired from said story, but be my own creations. We'll see how well this story turns out.**

 **Lastly, while I'm not directly making this an SYOC (because of the overwhelmingness the last few times), If you want to send in a character for me to use in this story, then by all means do. In fact, I encourage it.**

 **This seems to contradict the fact that I'm not "Directly" making this an SYOC, so what do I mean? I mean that I really want to use a couple of user-created characters, but I'll only be accepting a handful, like 2 or 3. Also, it is NOT first come first serve. I will look at your character, see how well they are made/how well they fit in the story, and decide whether or not I use them.**

 **So, SYOC/technically not SYOC.**

 **I'm not making a template, this is being made on your own. Just know your character can be a part of a guild, own a shop, have a certain relation to characters like Kirito, Phantom, Mataras or some other, or not at all.**

 **I'm also attempting to make this story as less Kirito-centric as possible, although he will be making a couple major appearances.**

 **WHEW that was a lot to cover. Alright, I'm done now.**

 **As usual, thanks for reading and I will see you all NEXT TIME!**

 **-Silver**


	2. Chapter 2: Temper

_Chapter 2: Temper_

"What exactly is it that you need help in?" Saphira asked. Mataras raised an eyebrow on his end, but he ultimately didn't say anything. Yet, anyways.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my journal and started flipping through the pages, searching for the one that held her answer.

Arriving at what I was looking for, I gently placed it on the table in their direction, sliding it towards them. Depicted on the pages was a map of a majority of the floor we were on, which was a massive ocean for the most part. The only way to travel between towns was by ships ferried by NPCs, or if a player owned one themselves.

The map had several notes scribbled on it, limericks that were dissected line by line, arrows that pointed to certain areas, but the thing that caught the two players attention the most was a certain area at sea that was circled several times.

"If you ask around, there are several areas and NPCs on this floor that allude to a hidden dungeon." I start. "Cryptic riddles, codes, even hidden in one of the side quests on this floor, they all say where that hidden dungeon is." My nervousness slowly slipped away as I talked about the dungeon. Whenever I get caught up in the moment, I tend to tune the rest of the world out, leaving me in my perfect environment.

"…Yea, lots of people heard about the hidden dungeon on Floor 5, but no one knows how to access it, let alone find its location." Mataras noted, picking up the journal.

"…So…are you telling us that you found it?" Saphira asks, the skepticism hiding in her voice.

I give them a nod. "It wasn't easy. I had to talk to practically every person on this floor, check the details on every quest down here…It was quite the chore, with only a single person's word, the bartender in the main square, that this dungeon even existed…" I tugged at the collar of my trench coat, re-adjusting it. "…But I believe that I found it."

Mataras looked up from the journal. "You 'believe' you found it?"

Crossing my left arm over my waist and resting my right elbow on my wrist, I brought my hand up, my index finger resting right under my nose and closed my eyes. "There is a small chance that I'm wrong, but I firmly believe that this is the location."

Mataras laid the journal back on the surface of the table. "What exactly is it that you're asking us to do?"

My eyelids snapped open as they looked at me with a mixture of wariness and curiosity. "If you want, I would appreciate your help clearing it."

Silence.

I could feel the air between us get…tense? Awkward? It was difficult to pin he exact feeling, but it was definitely uncomfortable.

"You expect three players to go and raid a secret dungeon." It was Mataras who spoke. I shifted in my seat, my nervousness slowly returning.

"Well…Yes."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Do you realize how imbecilic that sounds? You can't just go and raid on a dungeon without the proper preparations."

"…I am not unprepared, I'll tell you that much."

Saphira shook her head. "Phantom, I'm sorry, but Mataras is right. You can't just march through a dungeon with a couple of players." A thought comes to her head as she takes a sip of her tea. "We could ask a few other people to join us, make it a bit e- "

"NO!" I react, my hand suddenly reaching out in a 'halt' motion. My voice comes out louder and sharper than I realize. Saphira's eyes widened as she visibly flinches. In response, Mataras's eyes grow dark as his hand swiftly grips the hilt of his sword.

I froze, the intimidation radiating off of Mataras like a heat wave does the sun. In that moment when I looked into his eyes, He looked like he would kill me.

I slowly retracted my hand and tried to recompose myself. "Erm…my-my apologies, I reacted too-too suddenly." I took a deep breath, attempting to calm my nerves. Mataras kept his hand on his sword's hilt. "…No, I would prefer it if as little players as possible entered the dungeon."

Saphira gently nudged Mataras, who then looked down at his hand, and brought it back up in front of him. "Why is that?" She asked gently. Taking another deep breath, I was silent for a few seconds as I wondered how I should put it.

"…I…There is something down there I would like to…keep out of other people's grasp…"

Mataras looked between me and my journal a couple of times before speaking. "So, in other words, you think there is some rare item down there that you want. An item that would more likely go to you, the smaller the group is?" His voice was low.

I almost flinched. Whether or not he was intending to be intimidating, he was doing a good job. "You-you don't…well, that-that's not entirely the truth- "

"Not entirely the truth?" He stood up from his chair, with the wooden seat making almost a resounding scrape across the wood floor.

"Mataras, please." Saphira tried to settle him down, but He continued to remain standing, looking me square in the eye.

"Your selfishness in this case would get all three of us killed."

"I asked you how high of a level you are- "

"That isn't important. It's your OWN level that is. Only someone who's green as grass could come up with an idiotic plan such as your own."

His words resounded in me. Almost like a video loop, they played in my mind over and over and over again. Any trace of my nervousness was erased. I stood from my chair to meet him at eye level. "What are you insinuating?"

He stared me down. "What level are you?"

I could have ended the disagreement then and there by answering him, but his comment stirred up something in me. I was feeling rebellious. "You won't tell me your level, so then why should I tell you mine?"

He started to snarl at me, as if he didn't like my sudden attitude towards him. "Perhaps because you won't be receiving our help if you continue to be disagreeable. You won't get a larger party due to your own greed. Our levels are meaningless if we're going up against hordes of monsters in a dungeon."

I give him a grim look of defiance. "It didn't sound like you intended on helping me anyways. Maybe you're just afraid of going up against 'hordes of monsters in a dungeon.'"

Saphira stood up from her chair with an air of authority. "Mataras. Phantom. Your pointless arguing is getting us nowhere."

I don't know about Mataras, but to me her plea fell on deaf ears as my own infuriation rose. "Perhaps you yourself are just too weak to enter a dungeon like that, and you're too cowardly to admit it."

Quicker than a flash of lightning, Mataras unsheathed his sword and held it at the side of my neck. All in one single movement. It was so fast that I swear I could feel gusts of wind against my skin.

The metal didn't touch me, but it was mere millimeters away from doing so.

"I suggest you hold your tongue before I cut it out myself." Mataras growled, venomous fury lacing his words. My eyes widened as I stumbled back and tripped over the chair, falling in a heap on the floor.

"MATARAS!" I registered the near-scream of Saphira in my startled state. My eyes were shut, but I slowly opened them up to see Saphira giving a slap to Mataras across the face. The most odd thing though was the fact that Mataras didn't retaliate against her in any way.

 _He's a powder keg about to blow, yet Saphira can slap him across the face and not feel the heat of an explosion?_ I made my way to my feet, my mind running a mile a minute with the adrenaline pumping from the experience of having a sword to my throat. _What kind of friends are they that he can just accept a slap like tha…_

My eyes widened. I rapidly inhaled a single breath. My entire body tensed. All of a sudden, the air around me chilled me to my very bone. Mataras and Saphira were still quietly arguing, so they didn't notice me tense up.

I barely registered a sigh of exasperation from Saphira. "Phantom, I'm truly sorry about that on behalf of Ma…" She finally turned towards me and noticed me in my shocked state, same as Mataras. She gave me a look that almost screamed of worry. "Are…are you alright, Phantom?"

I blinked a few times.

 _No._

"Ye-yes. I'm alright. Tha-thanks for asking." The floodgates that were opened from earlier I managed to close with the two of them coming over to my table and talking with me, but now…

…Now they were thoroughly opened and nothing could stop them.

In an effort to hide my weakness in my face, I quickly pulled my hood back over my face. However, I couldn't tell in that moment that my body was quivering. "I'm-I'm sorry to bother the two-two of you. Thanks for-for talking with me-me."

Before either of them could say a word, I bolted out the door of the café, back into the thunderous storm outside.

I couldn't feel the cold of the rain anymore. I couldn't feel how it froze me down to my very core. I kept running, eventually making it to a hotel I stopped at a little before going to the café.

Rushing inside, I bolted up the stairs and to my room door, dashing inside and slamming the door shut.

My back leaned against the door for a few minutes. I was panting heavily, and it wasn't due to the running. I reached up slowly and touched my face, only to be met with wetness.

It wasn't rainwater.

The memories, these cursed memories continued to flow out of the depths of my mind and into my being. I broke down right there, weeping and collapsing onto the floor with nothing but my name and my past.

Mataras and Saphira…I observed and finally found out their true relation.

I wish that I could stop observing. Stop forever and live without the pain of knowing.

…

"You didn't have to put a sword to his neck. That was a bit too far." Saphira told Mataras. After Phantom mysteriously left them, they decided to head back to their own hotel room and rest up. It was a long day for them, and they wanted to get to sleep as soon as possible.

"So are you saying that I was the only one to step out of line?" Mataras countered her. "You heard what he said."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "…I never said that he was justified either. All I'm saying is that there are better ways to deal with problems than lodging them on the end of your blade."

Mataras snorted. "The towns' a safe zone. He wasn't in any real danger."

"So just because a person can't die gives you the right to threaten them?"

Silence between the two of them became present as they walked up the stairs to their room.

"Why would someone want to raid a dungeon in a three-man party anyways? That just seems…suicidal, if anything." Saphira wondered, bringing a finger to her chin.

Mataras shook his head as he opened their room door. "Not really. Not if your level is high enough, anyways."

The two of them entered and each sat on their bed, facing directly across from each other. "So, are you saying that we could clear that dungeon?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "Maybe if we had one or two more people on our level, then yea I'd say that it's within the realm of possibility."

Saphira narrowed his eyes at him. "Then why did you give Phantom such a hard time about it being an 'imbecilic' idea?"

"Because," Mataras started to respond. "He sounded like he spent most of his time on the lower floors such as Floor 5. I may very well be wrong but it seemed to me that he isn't on our level." He moves from the sitting position to laying on his back on the bed. "It doesn't help that he refuses to tell us his level, insinuating it may be low."

"Or he may have another reason." Saphira countered, getting ready to fall asleep. "Who knows, He may surprise us."

"Hm. Maybe…"

"…Mataras?"

He rolled on his side to see his sister's face. "Yea, Saphira?"

"…The look on his face before he left…He looked like he had seen a ghost."

Mataras closed his eyes, as if he was deep in thought. "…I can't say to know what kind of person Phantom is by knowing him only for a few minutes." A few seconds of silence passed before he rolled back on his back. "Goodnight, Saphira."

"Goodnight Mataras."

 **I honestly don't have much to say for this chapter, other than this is most likely going to be the regular length for them. Mainly just so I can capture the quality while also getting chapters out in a timely manner. I'm trying so hard to write these things and to not, in the end, get burned out and stop writing it.**

 **Well, as always, thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!**

 **-Silver**


	3. Chapter 3: Waves

_Chapter 3: Waves_

 _In a recent interview with Akihiko Kayaba, creator of the upcoming VR experience Sword Art Online, He gave a response to the public outcry for the game being delayed._

" _I want to make sure that this game reaches its full potential for perfection. The game is delayed again to make it so that the player won't be able to tell it apart from the real world, from a light breeze on their faces to the inhabitants of Aincrad. I assure you, this delay is meant to ensure that players won't get a new game; They'll be receiving a gateway to a new world."_

As I flipped through the pages of the latest issue of _Game Informer_ , the image I saw that took up a full page made my thumb halt. It depicted what looked like a giant ridged cone in the sky, with a ring of swords surrounding it as if they were its only foundation. I knew what it was the second I laid my eyes on it.

"Aincrad…" I whispered, barely audible. I shifted around in my swivel chair as I sat and observed the picture before me. My eyes then shifted to the next page, where Game Informer had an interview with Kayaba, the head developer of SAO.

" _I see, so that's your reason. I like a game that's worked on to where it's past the point of perfection, don't get me wrong, but I was wondering; is the delay also caused by the recent shortage of staff on the SAO Dev team?"_

" _No. While it is indeed a sad loss that a number of our team left, we have been able to find new replacements for them to continue our ongoing work."_

When I read that last sentence, a small part of me wanted to crumple the magazine up then and there and throw it across the room, but the other part of me didn't. I don't know why.

I simply kept reading on, eventually reaching the next page, which left a hint of surprise in me from what I saw.

There were two photos of a letter Kayaba wrote to the public regarding SAO and its delay. What was odd though was that the letter was written in both English and Japanese, one in each picture.

I brushed it off as him wanting to seem personal to everyone who was eyeing SAO, not just Japan. The letter comprised mainly of him saying what to expect from SAO: A perfect masterpiece to soon join the halls of Video Game History, how much work and dedication he thanks his team for, appealing to certain requests he received from fans in prior months for the game, and an apology for the delay, mostly what he told Game Informer.

At that point, I could have gone to the next page and continued reading, but for some reason that I can't really explain, I stayed where I was. I kept reading the interview and the letter over and over again, as if my mind was locked in a museum exhibit, and I couldn't move to see the rest of the exhibits.

Every time I re-read the SAO article, I could feel my ecstasy heighten, and yet I had no idea why. "A new world…"

...Was I really that done with the current world I was in? Was I truly subconsciously finished with this messed up city, this messed up world that I had lived in for 14 years?

Was that the reason I felt so much ecstasy?

I couldn't say for sure, honestly. I couldn't differentiate my emotions and my thoughts correctly at that time.

Shaking off my confusion at my emotions, I read Kayaba's English letter for what seemed to be the Nth time, when I observed something truly odd about the writing.

It seemed to have been printed and then signed by Kayaba, that much made sense. However, little letters dotted throughout the lines in the letter stood out to me.

 _Why did some letters, that were typed in what seems to be a normal font, have little niches in them?_

Upon closer inspection, this seemingly innocuous detail was correct. They were faint, very faint, but they were there. Fonts weren't supposed to do that. They were supposed to be printed without error, so the tiny imperfections in some of the letters should have been impossible. The page looks like it was printed perfectly without issues also. So then why…

 _Unless He was hiding something._

… _Stop. You already 'observed' too much. You need to stop._

 _Why are the letters like that though?_

 _I told you. You need. To stop._

 _But-_

 _STOP. Stop being such an observant idiot._

My mind was at war with myself. I wanted to stop observing and detecting the smallest things, but my other half of my being won't let me. It's as if I'm chained to another person and we're in a massive tug-of-war to make the other fall.

"…" The seemingly impossibly niched letters were standing out to me now like a sore thumb. My mind was going crazy. It was an itch I the back of my head that I couldn't make go away. Unless this puzzle was resolved. "…One last time. This is it. No more after this."

Scooting my chair over to my desk, I grabbed my journal and a pen from one of the drawers while placing the magazine down, still open.

Referring to the letter every few seconds or so, I began to write down every individual letter I saw that had a small niche in it. I didn't pay attention to what exactly it was I was writing until I finally wrote the last letter down. Satisfied with my progress, I looked down at what it was that I wrote.

My shock couldn't have been greater.

I slowly stood up from my chair and backed away, pushing the chair out of my path. My mouth had dropped open, my eyes wide. Kayaba DID hide something in the English letter. But…for it to have been…

 _The odds of him coming up with that are…astronomically low!_

I don't remember what happened after that. That day just kind of…flew by for me. My discovery however, was and is forever burned into my mind.

…

My eyes slowly fluttered open as I gained consciousness. Sitting up and stretching a bit, I realized that I didn't really feel well.

Looking around the room, I saw that nothing was really out of place. My gaze went to the window, where I saw rain lightly hitting the glass. Well, at least significantly lighter than it was yesterday.

Letting out a small yawn, I tried to recall what happened the previous day, as my mind was currently blanking.

I blinked a few times as the events of yesterday came back to me. Meeting Mataras and Saphira, me asking them to assist me, our argument. Their relation.

When I remembered that they were brother and sister, I should have broken down, or at least started crying, sitting there on the bed. Yet, I wasn't. I put a hand up to my face to see if there was anything at all. I was met with simply my own dry skin.

This…made me confused. Very confused. Even after sitting and thinking for a while, my mind could come up with nothing, and I eventually brushed it off.

 _It isn't like I want to cry…_

As I got myself ready to leave for the day, I wondered about the two players I met. Mataras and Saphira…

Looking back on it, I doubt that Mataras wanted to even see my face again. That much I knew. I can't say for certain about Saphira though. She was massively different from Mataras, yes, but it's much harder to read someone who is trying to be polite than to read someone who looks to be angry a good amount of time.

As I walked down the stairs of the hotel, I realized that I should…no. I NEEDED to apologize to them. I acted irrationally, and at what? An insult of all things? I mentally kicked myself. If I blew up like that every time someone insulted me, I'd be soon the most hated player in the game.

I mean, if I actually knew that many people at least…

At this point, I recalled that I didn't even friend either of them. For all I knew now, they had long since left the floor to do their own thing. Didn't know for sure.

…

Entering one of the shops from the rainy weather, I realized that it was a well-kept shop. Nice, clean, the nice smell of polished wood entering my nose. It was refreshing, to say the least. There were a few weapons on display, along with a few other items like seashells or gems for jewelry.

Walking past all of it and to the front desk, the young man who owned the shop seemed to be focused on something else, not noticing me as I approached. I gave a small cough as to let him know that I was here. I also mentally told myself to try not to stutter. When he didn't notice me, I tried again. "Beautiful mor-morning, is it not?"

"Hm?" He looked up from what looked like some type of crossword puzzle. "OH! I'm so sorry that I didn't notice you, Sir!"

I just slightly waved my hand at him. "It's perfectly fine, Sir-Sir." Crud. I looked around to see if there was some common ground I could talk to him on. Eyes landing once again on the crossword, I spoke rather quickly. "Is that a-a crossword puzzle?" He seemed surprised that I was interested in what he was doing, looking back down at the puzzle before looking back at me. A smile then made its way onto his face. "Actually, yea it is!"

Giving a small chuckle, I ask, "Are you finding all the correct words ok then?" He nods his head.

"Yes, Thanks for asking, Mr…?"

I hold out my hand to him. "Phantom. Nice to meet you!"

He accepts it. "Jakob. Nice to meet you too, Phantom!" He pulls up his menu and flips it to my direction. "So, how can I help you, today?"

I quickly browse the list, hoping to find what I'm looking for. Smiling, I tap the Oceansun Stone. "This is all, thank you."

Seeing what I selected, Jakob raises an eyebrow while grinning. "Not many people get this stone unless they want to put it in a weapon for decoration…or for jewelry."

I wave him off. "I assure you, this gem can be used for more than what you suggested."

"Hm... Well, that'll be 2,000 col, Phantom."

Opening my own menu and paying the required amount of col, I opened my palm and extended my hand to Jakob, who placed the gem in my hand. It felt nice. It was cool like the ocean water, but it had a weight that I wasn't expecting.

I nod to Jakob. "Pleasure doing business with you, Jakob. And good luck on the rest of that crossword!"

He waves me goodbye. "So long, Phantom! Have a good day!"

I exited the door and into the briny and rainy weather. Most people I knew would wear coats or have umbrellas, but I found it much more refreshing to let the rain wash over you if it was as light as it was now.

I started to make my way down to the docs, but a bit of conversation made its way to my ear that I found rather interesting. "Why the heck are you going to this shop, man?"

Turning around, I saw two players, both guys, talking with each other as they walked up to the shop I was just in. One of the players shrugged his shoulders at what I assume to be the other person's question. "Because this shop is closer. I need a new dagger to replace my other one fast."

The other person crossed his arms. "Giran, you can get a dagger that is much better in quality if you go to a shop run by a player instead."

The person just named Giran shrugged his shoulders once again at his friend. "Well, let's see what this one carries first, since we're already here, 'kay?" With that last word, Giran walked in the shop, his friend protesting and following close behind.

I merely turn around and continue my way to the docks.

…

Many people here in Aincrad thought that actually buying a boat rather than renting one was a pointless waste of money, mainly since a majority of the world was land rather than sea but I begged to differ in favor of it for a couple of different reasons:

For one you don't have to share it with another person, another is you can go out on the sea on floor 5 whenever you want, and since I was a person who loved the ocean in general, this was a big win. Lastly, we were only 10 floors cleared. You never know when there might be another major water floor.

Anyways, I owned a small sloop that was nice. Cost me a good amount of col, like 200,000 or so, give or take. It took a lot of grinding to get this, but in my opinion, it was worth it. I just need to get a bit more col. I even was able to spend a little extra to personalize it. A royal blue hull really made the black sail pop out in my eyes.

Sailing out on the ocean, the wind in my hair and the rain on my back felt marvelous. Thankfully the rain wasn't so heavy that it influenced the waves all that much. They were tame for the most part. Nothing too big. Checking my notes in my journal from time to time, I kept on sailing outwards, re-adjusting my path every so often.

Eventually, after checking a few things here and there in my map, in the sky, and a few key lines in my notes, I believed that I was out far enough in the right place. Furling the sail, I quickly turned my sloop around so that I would coast into the direct area that I needed to be.

Once I finally made it to a stop, or at the very least trying to stay in the correct area with the bobbing waves moving me around, I opened my menu and checked my in-game map and coordinates. When compared to my journal, my coordinates shown in the system matched the ones I wrote next to the area I circled several times.

I took a deep breath as I retrieved the Oceansun Stone from the pocket of my coat. I held it up to my eye as if I was checking to make sure I got the right object, even though I knew that it must be it. As I looked at it, nearly touching my eye lens, I swear that I saw roaring waves within the gem.

Walking to the edge of my Sloop, I took another deep breath. "Welp," I said to myself, holding the stone over the surface of the water. "Here goes nothing." And without hesitation, I dropped the precious stone into the bobbing waves, sending it to the depths. I silently prayed that I interpreted all the info I got from around the area correctly.

Ten seconds. Thirty seconds. Sixty seconds.

Two full minutes passed before I let go of a breath I realized I was holding. Running a hand through my rain-soaked hair, I wondered to myself if I truly overthought it. As usual. Turning my back and walking to take the helm, a tremor shook and I fell onto the deck.

The sloop was rocking dangerously side to side, and in that moment I feared that my ship would capsize. Eyes widened, I tried to make it back to my feet, but I was thrown back down again due to another wave hitting the side of my ship.

Crawling over to the ship's railing, I managed to hoist myself up and secure my footing. Looking over the side to where I dropped the stone, an incredible sight greeted my eyes.

It's as if someone opened up a large area of the sea, because the water was parted in a perfect circle. The water was sloped in such a way, like a funnel, that it looked like one could ride down if they so choose. But it was what was at the bottom that made my heart leap with joy.

There was what seemed to be a temple at the bottom, like a large gazebo almost.

I couldn't tell what exactly waited for me down there, but being the logical person, I did the logical thing.

I walked up to the wheel of my ship, and directed it to where I would slide down the cone of water, too ecstatic in the moment to care whether or not I hit or entered the temple structure.

...

 **At first, I debated with myself on whether I should make a giant chapter with the secret dungeon, or if I should split it into two. I realized that if I wrote the entire thing in one go, it would be 20 pages or so, so I decided against it. Mark my words though, I intend to make the next chapter longer than normal, so look forward to that!**

 **As usual, thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!**

 **-Silver**


	4. Chapter 4: Depths

_Chapter 4: Depths_

As expected, delving down the falling waves on a sloop was a lot like riding a roller coaster, or rather Splash Mountain; Your lungs feel like they're going to burst out of your chest, and you scream at the top of your lungs, as if screaming will somehow amend the situation.

The experience lasted for a total of ten to fifteen seconds, which was honestly longer than I thought it was, and much longer than Splash Mountain. It goes to show that reaching the bottom of the ocean, even at maximum speed, can be a lot harder than it sounds. When I started approaching the bottom, I feared that my sloop would crash straight into one of the main pillars, sending me to a watery grave.

Thankfully, it hit the bottom level with a rather large splash, showering me with saltwater. If I wasn't drenched before, I was now. It didn't matter to me though, because the impact slowed me down enough so that I sailed right into the main part of the temple.

It was much larger than it appeared from up above, because while drifting in I noticed that this particular section was more or less…well, a dock. Surrounded by water under the temple roof was a large platform, with slabs jutting out from the main part. On top of the central platform was what looked like a small stone cabin from a distance.

Letting out a sigh of relief that I survived the experience of diving headfirst into the equivalent of a maelstrom, or at least that's what my mind thought at the time, I steered my sloop in the direction of one of the slabs, drifting my way there slowly but steadily.

Once I made sure that I was close enough to the dock, I went to one of the few barrels on my ship and hefted a heavy rock tied securely to a rope. Struggling to keep it in my grasp, I staggered over to the ship railing, and with all the might I had left, tossed it over the side and onto the dock.

Gripping the railing lightly, I supported myself as I leapt over the side and onto the stone floor. Breathing deep, I made sure I had my main sword equipped: just a simple Katana that has served me well since Floor 1. Nothing overtly special about it other than sentimental value. I planned on getting a better sword once I leveled up a bit more and a few more floors were cleared, but for now, this will do.

Once I made sure it was secure at my side, I proceeded to the stone house-looking structure in the center, and saw that a pair of double doors were keeping whatever was inside locked. The doors themselves were intricately designed with patterns of water and waves. Above the doors read what I assumed to be the name of the dungeon.

"The Abyssal Ruins…" I spoke to myself. Fitting for our location. Checking my inventory one last time that I had the right amount of healing and teleport crystals, I raised both my hands and pushed the twin doors.

Swinging open, they revealed a long set of stairs descending into the darkness. The hall reeked of salt and brine, though that didn't bother me. Hardly at all. Torches lined up against the walls started lighting themselves, one by one, going deeper and deeper down the stairs.

 _You just can't march through a dungeon with a couple of players._ Saphira's words echoed in my mind. I gulped. Closing my eyes, I took one final deep breath. "I don't care." I told myself. Steeling my nerves, I drew my sword, glinting in the torchlight, and began to descend the stairs.

 _Everyone else in this world fights to escape._ I thought to myself as I went down another step. _I fight for a different reason. One that is greater than their own._

…

"Are you sure you wouldn't just like to wait until we get back to the Front Lines?" Saphira asked Mataras as they made their way down the rainy streets of Wileris. Mataras merely brushed it off by saying "We might need to grind a bit on our way back, or perhaps something else might happen. No, I would say it's better to restock on essential supplies here while we have the chance."

Saphira wore a thoughtful expression on her face. "I mean, won't the effects be weaker than those bought on the highest floor?"

"Probably. Probably not. All I know is that it's better to be prepared with under-leveled healing potions than with none at all."

Saphira mulled over his words for a minute before she nodded in agreement. "Fair point." Shortly after, they found one of the local shops. Entering from the rainy weather, they saw that it was a fairly small shop, but it still seemed to carry necessities from first glance.

Two players were already present, with them looking over some of the weapons display cases. They didn't look up from their gaze when they heard the doorbell ring, signaling someone entered. They didn't, but what Mataras took for as the shopkeeper did.

"Why, good morning!" He waved to the two of them. "Might I ask how you two are doing today?"

Saphira smiled and nodded at him. "We are doing just fine, thanks for asking!"

Mataras walked straight up to the counter. "I assume that you have healing items in stock?"

The shopkeeper opened up his menu in response. "Ah, someone wanting to get straight down to business? I can respect that. And yes I do, sir."

While Mataras started ordering the needed supplies, Saphira wandered over to the window and gazed out into the rain, looking over the surface of the ocean past the nearby docks. As much as she knew she needed to get back to the front lines, she actually kind of liked it here.

"Mataras, are you sure that there isn't anything else we need to do here before we leave?" She asked him from where she was standing.

"Positive." He replied quickly, not even looking away from his menu.

"I mean…We could still find Phantom." She turned around to look at him. "You could still apologize."

"As much as I would like to," He started in a voice that clearly sounded like he didn't like to at all. "We have no idea where he is. We aren't even friended. Who knows where Phantom could be now."

"You know Phantom?" The shopkeeper perked up, listening to our little conversation. Mataras looked up at him, slight surprise etched on his face. "…Yes? Do you know him?"

The shopkeeper gave a small laugh. "Actually, the chap came into my shop earlier, ten, fifteen minutes before you, give or take. Bought one of my Oceansun Stones."

Saphira made her way over to him. "Do you happen to know where he is now?"

He scratched his head. "Well, He didn't really tell me where he was going…" He then snapped his fingers, as if a light bulb lit up above him. "But those two gents over there entered not too soon after he left. Maybe they saw where he was going!" He motioned to the two players still looking at the weapons display case.

Striding over to them, she lightly tapped one of them on the shoulder.

"Hm?" He barely responds, only now looking up from the weapons case.

"Sorry to bother you, but you didn't happen to see another player leave this shop earlier?" She racked her memory, trying to recall Phantom's appearance enough to describe him. "Male, dirty blond hair, dark blue trench coat with a hood, white skin?"

The player put their hand to their chin, as if they were trying to remember. "Oh, that guy? Yea, saw him just as we were entering. When I looked out the window shortly after, I think I saw him sailing out, if I recall correctly."

Mataras came over as he finished making his purchase. Hearing what the player told Saphira, he raised an eyebrow. "Sailing out? But practically every other island out there has been cleared. Why would..." Realization dawned on his face as he let out a small grow. "…The imbecile."

Saphira's eyes widened as she got what he was getting at. Turning back to the player, she gave a small bow. "Thank you for your time, Sir." She then bolted out the shop, starting to make her way to the docks when a firm hand grasped her arm.

She whipped her head around to see Mataras standing firm, hand tightly gripping her arm. "Mataras, let go of me." She told him.

"He was a fool for trying to convince us to go to the dungeon, only the three of us. He's even more so by going alone."

She struggled against his grip. "Which is exactly why we have to go and get him!"

He shook his head. "He is most likely going to die before we reach him. We couldn't make it through that dungeon with just the two of us."

"You said so yourself! It's possible to complete that dungeon if we had another person on our level! Besides, we don't need to clear it, we simply need to make it to Phantom before he dies!" She finally broke free of his grasp, but she wouldn't back down from him, a fire burning in her eyes. "If we don't go to save him when we knew we could, his blood will be on both our hands."

She couldn't tell what was going on in Mataras's head. Saphira may have been his sister, but even then Mataras could come across as an enigma even to her.

After what seemed like forever, He let out a long sigh before walking past her. "I suppose that we should get a rental. We have practically an entire floor's worth of ocean to search. Let's get started."

…

After paying for a rental sloop, they began their search at once, even though they didn't specifically know what to look for. All they had to go off of was Mataras's memory of the general area that Phantom circled on his map. He couldn't recall the exact location.

After about twenty minutes or so, they finally found it. A giant hole in the sea, if you will, funneling down to what looked like a temple. Mataras, at the helm, at first swerved to avoid going in once it was in his sight, but after peering below, he realized what he needed to do.

…

I made significant progress through the dungeon. At first, it wasn't anything too hard, but I eventually found that it was more of a maze than anything. Occasionally I would come across a fork or some other then take the wrong turn, only to arrive at a dead end.

Or, if I was really lucky, it would lock me in a room with a handful of monsters, and it wouldn't let me out until I beat them all. This happened to be where I was now.

It must have been my birthday.

Lightly panting, I held my katana with both my hands, guarding myself by having it at an angle as if the sword was a diagonal line in front of me. Before me were two of the dungeon's main enemies: rotted swordsman who had cephalopods for heads. It was almost as if Davy Jones's head just went full on squid rather than just 'tentacley.' Apparently, they were called 'Squidheads.' These were what was left of the room's monsters, the other 2 felled by my sword.

The two of them rushed at me again, swinging down with their cutlasses, but I was able jump back before running forward and slashing right past one of them while his guard was down. It didn't finish that one off though, simply made him cry in pain in what sounded like bubbly noises, more or less.

That same Squidhead rushed at me with his sword, catching me slightly by surprise, but I was able to parry his blow, albeit rather weakly since I was slightly off guard. I followed that up with another slash to his ribs which knocked him to the side, but that was when his friend decided to strike, and he was able to take a slash at me while I was taking care of the other guy.

My body was thrown across the floor, and I noticed that a good chunk of my HP was gone. As of now, I was right above half health. Rolling on my back, I was about to get up when that same Squidhead tried to rush me again while I was on the ground. When he slashed down, I brought my katana up to block it, supporting it with my second hand.

Our swords remained clashing together as he stood over me. Some of his saliva or whatever is inside a squid's beak dropped onto my face in a couple drops. Disgusted I ended our current clash by giving him a swift kick to the chest, knocking him backwards. This gave me the opportunity to get to my feet while his friend tried to rush at me while he had the chance.

That was his mistake.

I quickly and easily sidestepped the attack while simultaneously swinging my sword in a side-arc, slicing right through him. This caused the last of his health to deplete as his corpse-like body was cut cleanly in half, erupting in what seemed to be a mix of blood, bones and seawater as he let out a final cry of pain before landing on the stone-cold floor. Seconds later he shattered into a thousand fragments of light.

Turning to face his friend who was acting a bit more cautiously, holding his cutlass in a more defensive position, we started walking in in a circle, facing each other almost as if both of us were waiting for the other to strike. His HP was fairly low, and so was mine, already dipped in the red because of this fight.

This exhilaration…this fight…This was one of many experiences I had in this world that made me love it more and more. A dark smile made its way onto my face. There was simply one thing that this enemy had failed to take into account.

With a series of quick and elaborate swings, I sheathed my sword to its scabbard on my left side, as if I was taunting the cursed swordsman.

The Squidhead didn't take this too kindly from the bubbly noises he made, possibly angry. I couldn't speak Squidhead, so I'll never know. He arched his sword behind his head and started running at me.

 _The fool. Telegraphing his attack like an amateur._ I fingered my trump card on my right side as he got closer and closer.

When he was 5 feet from me, the perfect and unmissable distance, I acted. Quicker than a flash of light, I pulled my dagger from my side and threw it with strength and precision, straight into his forehead. As soon as the dagger left my fingertips, I sidestepped his swing, getting a single strand of hair from my bangs sliced off in the process.

The Squidhead stumbled forward, his mind failing him and with it, the rest of his body. He fell to the floor, completely and totally immobile. He then shattered like his fallen friend before him.

Adrenaline still pumping through my system, though slowly dying out, I went over and retrieved my fallen dagger and carefully sliding it back into its sheath. I then collapsed on my bum, being supported from falling on my back by my hands. I let out a small laugh as soon as I felt the adrenaline finally leave my system.

"Well…That was good." I speak to myself, bringing out a health potion to gulp down my gullet. In the corner of my vision, I saw my health bar slowly replete to the point where I was fully healed.

Taking the bottle away from my lips and gasping for air, I tossed the glass container to my side where I heard it shatter into nothingness. _It truly is a shame._ I thought to myself. _You can't observe the fallen or the expended out of respect. I just…disappears. As if it never was._

That was simply the way things were. It was a universal truth to this world. The fallen become nothing. The nothing become forgotten. To become forgotten is to have a fate more terrible than anything anyone could ever imagine.

Careful not to fall, I unsheathed my katana to help me get to my feet. _I swear to you. I will not become forgotten. Not now, not ever._

It was here when I noticed that a chest had spawned in the center of the room. Most likely because I defeated all the enemies in the room. Still in recovery from the adrenaline rush, I walked slash wobbled my way over to the chest. Once I heaved it open, I found something that made accidentally wandering into this room worth it: 75,000 col.

Grinning as I deposited the cash into my inventory, I exited the room and checked my progress in mapping the dungeon out.

The maze-like structure seemed to make it where every wrong turn made it so that you ended up in either an enemy infested room, booby trapped hallway, or just a regular dead end, and you could turn around and continue on your merry way. There were only a small handful of those.

I had been crawling through this dungeon for about thirty minutes or so, possibly more. I lost track of time whenever I went on expeditions like this. It was definitely starting to drain me, I'll say that much. I was getting a bit low on healing potions and crystals, but I felt I had enough to continue a bit more.

Finally making it back to the fork in the tunnels I arrived to earlier, having taken the wrong turn into that room of Squidheads, I found that there were only 2 other paths I could take. I initially took the right path, but right was apparently wrong. So, on a mere whim I decided to try my luck with the left path this time.

Walking for a while, I eventually made it to a creaky wooden door. At this point, there was a door at the end of almost every hallway I took, wrong turn or not. So, with no other option, I unsheathed my katana in preparation for a fight if it came to it, and I pushed open the door.

Entering the domed room, I turned my head this way and that, trying to find if the room was friendly or hostile.

Then all the torches were lit at once, revealing several Squidheads and Crabheads, guess what the Crabheads look like. I can wait.

Anyways, I counted about five in total. I looked behind me to see the door still open, but I could see ethereal chains across the frame, preventing me from exiting.

I sighed to myself as I readied my sword. I had my work cut out. I couldn't afford any mistakes. With that said, I did a swift dash, slashing through one of the nearest Squidheads with my sword and making it across the room in one fell swoop. Looking back, I was able to stagger him and take out a little less than half his health.

I was going to play it safe and try to, more or less, primarily use this skill to try and take them all out slowly, playing the long game. That was when they all did something that I didn't expect: all of them at once started to run at me, swords ready to strike.

Before this room, they almost never coordinated among themselves to this extent, so I was severely caught off guard. I was able to parry one or two of their blows, but the remaining 3 stabbed me in the gut, causing a burst of pain to sprout from my stomach.

They all jumped back to prep for another attack, but I was able to dodge it to the other side of the room with another swift dash. Looking at my HP, I saw that it was exactly at the halfway mark.

I considered my options. Considering I was able to drop only one of the cutlass-wielding fish people's health to above half, and they can coordinate their attacks with precision, I doubted that I could win this fight.

I loved stabbing bad guys as much as the next guy, but a chess player has to know when he's in check.

I stayed on the defensive as I started to pull out a teleport crystal, but before I could finish, two of the fish people received two slashes each from behind them. They didn't even have the chance to react in surprise before dissolving into nothing. Their remaining 3 companions leapt away in shock to see who or what felled two of them, and I was equally as shocked as they were when I saw who it was.

"How…How in the world did you find this place?" I asked them.

Mataras swung his sword a couple of times in case one of the Squidheads decided to try and rush them while Saphira held her sword in a defensive position. "We'll talk after this. Are you ok?" Saphira asks me.

I simply nod my head as I put away my menu, no longer needing a teleport crystal. I re-readied my sword as I responded. "Let's fight."

For the most part, due to the surprise attack by Mataras and Saphira, the 3 on 3 match was rather easy. We each took one Squidhead down, as the two of them took down both Crabheads with their surprise attack. Shame, honestly. I wanted to see if their fighting style was different from Squidheads or if they were the same.

Merely five or ten minutes later, the enemies were defeated in a flash of light, with my health only barely reaching yellow. I swing my sword a few times before putting it back in its sheath, while Mataras and Saphira did likewise.

We stood in silence for a few seconds before it hit me that we still had that argument. "Erm…" I start, nervously rubbing the back of my head. "I just want to say-" I never got to finish as Mataras strode over to me and slapped me square in the face with enough force to make me fall to the ground. I only lost about a tenth of my HP, though it still stung.

"Your own pride and foolishness almost got you killed." Mataras told me in an unnervingly calm voice.

Saphira nodded at his words. "While I think that slapping you was a bit excessive, he is right, Phantom."

I sat up into the sitting position, gently rubbing my cheek. "…I deserved that, I'll admit." I then hoisted myself up to look at Mataras in the eye as Saphira walked over to join us.

"You deserve a lot more than that." Mataras answered, still in his unnervingly clam voice. "We told you the consequences of what would happen if you stormed this dungeon with just three people, and yet you tried to storm it all al-"

"I'm sorry." I cut him off. He blinks, as if he isn't used to being cut off or something. I continue. "I'm sorry for the way I acted and how I treated the both of you at the café. I…lost my head. And frankly you saved my life." I bowed to him. "…even though I had full intention of teleporting out before you arrived." I shouldn't have added that comment, but I also didn't notice in the moment that I wasn't stuttering.

Mataras is silent for a minute. Since neither of us were saying anything, with Saphira merely watching us, I decided to show him something. I opened my character profile and flipped it to his direction.

His piercing eyes glossed over the information before I saw realization in his eyes. It was definitely faint, but it was there.

"You asked what level I was yesterday. I was being too stubborn that I didn't want to show you. Well, I'm level 16."

Mataras closed his eyes and continued to say nothing for a minute or so. "…Well, that explains how you made it so far down here without dying." He opened his eyes. "How did you get so high? I don't think I've ever seen you on any of the boss raids."

I chuckle. "I'm told by some people, both here and in the other world, that sometimes I'm so silent that they don't even realize I'm there. Believe me, I've been to most of the raids so far. And I like to level up if I'm doing nothing or some other."

Mataras merely nods at this. He has a good poker face, I'll give him that much. I can't really tell what he's thinking in the moment, but he eventually says something. "…I apologize for threatening you at the café. And since you asked earlier, Saphira and I are both Level 17."

I gave a small whistle. I mean, I was only a level behind them, but even still, I felt that I should give them some form of appreciation.

That's when I felt something on my shoulder, and there stood Saphira with a hand on both my own and Mataras's. "Well, glad you two drama kings were able to work that little argument out. But now that that's done…what now?"

I close my eyes. "…I still hope to complete this dungeon. I don't know what lies ahead, but I feel like I can't just back out now." I opened them, staring into Mataras's swirling grey eyes. "I know that you think it sounds suicidal, but…this means everything."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why exactly is that?"

Silence. Ten seconds. "It won't matter if I never reach the dungeon's end."

Saphira gives me a little pat before folding her arms. "Still intent on being cryptic, I see."

I smirk. "It's what I do. It's my thing."

She gives Mataras a curious look. "Well, Mataras? Are you going to acknowledge what you said earlier?" I had no idea what they were talking about, but I could tell that Mataras was deep in thought, looking between Saphira, then me, then back to Saphira.

"…Well then, let's see how far this dungeon goes." I felt a smile creeping up on my face.

…

We decided to party up for the rest of the dungeon. There were a couple of other rooms with a bunch of Squidheads and Crabheads, but with the three of us being high leveled, they were dispatched without major risk.

For the most part, we engaged in a bit of small talk while walking. Nothing major or important, just about ourselves and other unimportant things.

Eventually all our walking and fighting through the dungeon finally paid off. Walking down a final hallway and looking ahead of us, we finally saw what we had traveled all this way for: The boss door.

It looked a lot like the doors at the dungeon's entrance, except it seemed to be even more intricate, if you can believe that. Patterns of massive tsunamis, clouds pouring down rain, several creatures that inhabited the deep sea. It was as if Michelangelo had created this masterpiece himself with how beautiful it was.

Drawing my sword, I looked to Mataras and Saphira to see that they were doing the same thing. Looking to them, I asked, "Are you ready?"

Mataras gave a reaffirming nod. "Let's do this."

The three of us stepped forward and each put a hand on the doors and gave them a small push, but it was more than enough to open the massive stone doors.

The second they cracked open, the sound of crashing water flowed out into the hall. Walking inside, the view we found was incredible. We were in a circular room, where the floor had a spiral pattern going from the outside to the center, but that wasn't the most impressive thing about the room.

The room we were in was surrounded by cascading waterfalls on all sides, coating the floor in a thin layer of water. At least that's what it seemed like at first…we soon realized that they weren't waterfalls per se, but rather walls made of nothing but water, going out into the pitch-black darkness of the oceans depths. Above us was a never-ending ceiling of darkness, almost like a reverse-bottomless pit. It reminded me a lot of Ganon's Castle from "The Wind Waker."

At first, I had no idea where all the light was coming from, but then taking a closer look, we saw several little creatures within the walls of water, some being bioluminescent jellyfish, others being creatures that just acted as orbs of light.

Needless to say, our breath was taken away.

Turning this way and that, a single question lingered in the back of my head.

"Where's the boss?"

The three of us stood on our guard as nothing happened for a small amount of time. Standing in place, we all turned in a circle to see if the boss would pop out from somewhere.

That was when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Whipping around, I saw something in the walls of water. A large black shadow that, at first glance, seemed to be as large as a galleon. "Guys." I alert them, even though they probably already were when I whipped around.

Following my eyes, they were able to see the same shadow that I saw, circling the room through the cascading water.

Then it stopped moving.

And then all heck broke loose.

In a giant burst of salt water, splashing all over the three of us, making us all thoroughly soaked if we weren't before, there stood a giant monstrous creature. It was giant. It was horrifying. It was…

…pink?

Letting out a roar that made the entire room shook, the boss's name and 4 HP bars appeared above it. _The Axolotl._ It looked like a normal axolotl for the most part, except for the fact that it had an obvious crazed look in its eye, and its whiskers, tentacles, whatever you want to call them seemed to have a medusa effect to them, because they all faced towards us and hissed with their mouths.

The boss then started rushing at us, and we quickly jumped into action. And by 'jumped into action,' I really mean we jumped out of the way.

The Axolotl missed us completely and dived back into the water, where we saw its shadow swim around the circumference of the room before swimming away into the depths.

Anyone else would have wondered if it was simply swimming away, but I played enough video games to know what was really happening. "It' gonna jump out from somewhere unexpected!" I yelled to Mataras and Saphira. "Get ready!"

I then moved to the center of the arena, as it would give me equal opportunity to dodge any which way the Axolotl decided to ambush. The other two got the same idea and joined me. It was mere seconds later when I heard a splash behind and above me. Swiftly running straight ahead and away from the sound, we all felt a massive tremor that, while not doing damage to us, did cause us to become stunned for a few seconds.

This came as a surprise to all of us, but we still kept our guards up either way. Turning around, there lay the Axolotl on his back, most likely dazed from the fall. We didn't need to be told to go and start attacking the thing as much as we can.

After we dealt a good amount of damage, about a fifth of his first health bar, his eyes noticeably flashed, signaling to us that he was most likely going to retaliate, so we retreated back a bit.

True to form, He spun around a few times before jumping back on his feet, and charging past us, just missing his targets, ramming headfirst into the water.

"It should be easy, at least for now." Mataras notes. "The boss is telegraphing his attacks so that they're easy to dodge. Just keep your guard up."

"Don't jinx it, Mataras." I respond, muscles tense from waiting. The same thing happened, although this time the sound was behind us. It fell down and the shockwave effect stunned us for a bit, and then we rushed it for as long as we could. This was basically the first health bar of the boss. Nothing too hard. It was when we depleted that bar that things got significantly more interesting.

When it was back in the walls and we thought it was going to dive out again, something different happened. We heard the Axolotl roar before orbs of solid water cascaded from above us, threatening to crush us.

They were rather large and numerous, but my reflexes were able to make me dodge nearly all of them. Yes, I was hit by one and it took away a seventh of my HP, but for the most part we all came out primarily unscathed.

That section of dodging falling objects reminded me of some of my favorite platformers, such as Cuphead and Drawn to Life.

The second that the final orb of water made impact with the ground, another loud splash echoed through the chamber, and hearing it directly above me, I realized it was the Axolotl above me. Trying to rush away, I was able to avoid the brunt of the blow entirely, but I was still close enough to be knocked back when he fell, launching me towards the floor.

"Are you alright?" I heard Mataras ask as he went to slash at the boss. My HP bar read that I was losing a third of my HP bar in total. I brought myself back up to my feet.

"Yea. I'm fine." I told them before joining them in the assault. After that during the phase, I consciously dialed up my awareness so that after the orbs of water all fell, I would anticipate the Axolotl and where he fell. While we all lost a bit of HP during this phase, nothing of incredible concern happened. We made sure to stay out of the yellow.

Then things took an incredible turn the millisecond that the next two HP bars became depleted, leaving only one left.

The Axolotl, shaking its head as it got up to its feet again, after our most recent assault, seemed to gain a crazed smile along with the creepy look in its eyes, and the most unexpected thing happened: Its whisker tentacles all faced us and roared.

Tendrils of pure saltwater, six of them, erupted from the walls and started attempts of slashing and whacking us, while the Axolotl turned tail and ran back in the water, circling around the chamber menacingly. 

I immediately directed my attention to the tendril closest to me, and it started to bring itself around in a horizontal slash. Out of pure reflex, I tried to parry it with my sword, only to have my eyes widen at what I saw happen next.

The tendril passed straight through my sword and slammed into me, sending me sprawling once again on the floor, wind knocked out of me.

Gasping for breath, I tried to make it back to my feet, but I was knocked back down by another tendril.

Between being beat around senseless and quick respites, I saw Mataras and Saphira having the same issue, being beaten around the room.

"Why are none of our attacks working?!" Saphira called between breaths.

"It's water! Our swords are completely usele-OOF!" I was once again knocked down the tendrils. Looking at my HP, I almost had a fourth of health left. The tendrils didn't do much in terms of damage, but they were so quick and effective, not to mention unblock-able, that at this rate we were all going to be beaten to a pulp. Literally.

 _There's got to be a way around this._ I wondered, trying to dodge as much of the tendrils sweeps and stabs as I could, same as Saphira and Mataras.

 _You know what you need to do to win this fight._ The small voice in the back of my head told me. And he was right. I didn't want to though. I really didn't want to.

Looking back at the two players who risked themselves to follow me down into a dungeon to save my frankly-sorry hide, I saw that they were keeping up with dodging for the most part, but they were obviously getting tired. It was only a matter of time before we were all killed.

… _Fine._

Continuing to dodge the tentacles to the best of my ability, I briefly closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

When my eyes opened, the viridian irises would have seemed sharper to anyone who looked closely. They darted around the room, taking in every possible bit of information that they could while dodging an endless barrage of attacks.

They observed.

 _The Axolotl has stayed out of the main room, keeping entirely to the watery depths. Most likely how his last phase is in its entirety. The initial explanation would be for us to jump in after him and attack him as much as we can, but axolotls in general can swim comparatively faster than humans, especially considering the massive size difference of this one, so it would get away as soon as we got a single hit. That is slow and rather ineffective._

"Anyone…anyone have…have any ideas?" The voice of Saphira rang out, weariness present, although weak.

 _No, our main goal would have to be to somehow get the Axolotl out of the water, where it was slower and more vulnerable, but it has no need to confront us with the tendrils doing the work. Ergo, this fight was designed to have us get rid of the tendrils in some way._

"I've got nothing." Mataras called. "Phantom? You?"

 _If the Axolotl can actively control the water and by extension, the Tendrils, then why not attempt to finish us off faster by also sending down more orbs of water? Or summoning more tendrils? Is there a limit to how much water it can control? But where exactly is that limit? How can we tell…_

Looking at the Axolotl encircling us in the water, I tried to see if there was anything distinct about it, and then it looked at me straight in the eyes, a bloodthirsty stare penetrating my being.

That was when it finally clicked with me.

Six tendrils.

Six whisker tentacles.

"I have an idea!" I called out to them. Without waiting for a response, I rushed over to the part of the waters where the Axolotl dwelled, dodging tendrils as I went, and dived right in.

Holding my breath, I readied my sword as I got closer to the Axolotl. It turned to me, looking at me as if it was thinking "Really bro?" before turning its head back and preparing to swim away.

However, that didn't mean I couldn't get one good hit in before it fled. Activating one of my sword skills, an upward swing, I slashed right through one of the Axolotl's whisker tentacles.

Even though we were both underwater, the roar from the Axolotl could be noticeably heard, before it sped away around the chamber.

Rushing back out of the waters myself and into the open air, I gasped for breath as I fell out of the water and back to the floor.

I noticed that there was one less tendril of water in the room.

Mataras, right in front of me, dodged another strike from the remaining tendrils. "So that's how we do it…" Without further warning, he leapt into the water, right after the Axolotl. Saphira and I exchanged glances before quickly diving in after him.

Making it to the monstrous pink creature, we all struck and each dismembered one of his whisker tentacles. When it swam away and we made it back to the chamber for air, there were only 2 tendrils left. We were all able to dodge them with ease since they weren't backed up by numbers. Mataras and I then jumped in after the Axolotl one last time, slicing off the remaining 2 whisker tentacles.

That was when it left us in the water as it re-entered the chamber, facing Saphira alone.

I noticed a dark look in Mataras's eyes as he sped after the Axolotl, whittling down its HP as soon as he made it back with Saphira.

Still in the water and seeing the Axolotl having only a quarter of health left, I decided to try and finish it off with a final blow. Swimming up through the water, going higher and higher above the floorlevel, struggling to hold my breath, I finally burst out and began to fall towards the Axolotl.

Sword in hand, without so much as a battle cry, I initiated a Vorpal Strike while plummeting headfirst towards the Axolotl, intent on finishing it off once and for all. Mataras looked up to see what I was doing, and from where I was I swear I saw him giving me a dark smile.

Then, in a flash of dark purple light, my sword penetrated the Axolotl's forehead. On impact, he reared his head in pain, and I was forced to jump off without my katana. Sticking the landing, I stood back with the other two as we watched the Axolotl thrash this way and that, obviously in pain from the attack.

I almost felt sorry for it, but then I remembered that this was the beast that tried to brutally kill us.

As its HP finally reached zero, it started to glow a bright light. However, I swear that its eyes were trained on me, with a look in them that held a maniacal feeling that felt as if the thing wanted to kill me right there on the spot. It sent chills down my spine.

Then it erupted into crystal shards, as a congratulations sign appeared above where the creature used to be.

All of us breathed a deep sigh as we simply sat down where we stood. My own HP was in the yellow, right below a fourth of my health remaining. Two things appeared before me. The first and most prominent was my level up screen, showing me that I raised by two levels. I was pretty close to leveling up before fighting the boss, so gaining the extra level after the one I had coming was pretty sweet.

The second was a last attack bonus that I received. All it said was that I retrieved an item called the Mask of the Depths. I simply dismissed it for the moment.

"Well that was exhilarating." I offhandedly remarked, pulling out a healing potion and taking small sips at a time.

"That's one way of putting it." Mataras said has he and Saphira did likewise. "Good job though. Figuring out that last phase, I mean."

I nodded. "Don't mention it."

Finishing up my potion, restoring me to full health. "So…" Mataras started. "You said there was something down here you specifically wanted to find."

I stopped and thought for a moment, processing what he said. Once my head registered that, I realized something.

"…Oh no." I stood up looking around the chamber. I paced around it, looking for any sign of what was insinuated to be down here. "No no no…NO!" I ran both hands through my blond hair in frustration. There was nothing here. No items, no text, nothing that alluded to what was supposed to be here. "It was supposed to be here! I KNOW it has to be here!"

Saphira got to her feet, trying to step in front of me, stopping my pacing. "Phantom, what's wrong?"

My mind was still reeling.

 _It's not here._

I slowed down, took a deep breath, and looked her in the eyes. Now wasn't the time. "It's nothing, nevermind Saphira." I told her. "I thought something was supposed to be down here, but…well, it looks like it's not. I'm sorry I practically dragged you and Mataras on a wild goose chase."

"We beat a secret boss in a secret dungeon, leveling up in the process, and I assume you got some last attack bonus." Mataras stands next to Saphira. "I wouldn't call that a wild goose chase."

Saphira nods. "Mataras is right. I don't know what it was you were looking for, but this adventure wasn't for nothing."

Taking in their words, I close my eyes and lift my face upwards, feeling the brine and water sprinkling around me. I don't move, but I felt a smile grow on my face. "Thanks guys. I mean it."

Bringing my head back down, I opened my inventory and pulled out the Mask of the Depths. It materialized in my hand, and I have to say that it looked cool.

It was a simple silver mask that looked like, more or less, a stretched out V with two upside-down triangles for eyeholes. Putting it on my face, I found that I could see as well as if I wasn't wearing it.

"It looks rather good on you." Mataras noted. "The eyeholes appear simply like pure black lenses though, unable for us to see through it. I assume you can?"

I nod. "Yea." Looking back and forth between the two of them, I could firmly say that I feel like they were some of the best, if not some of the first, friends that I made in the first 92 days of this new world's existence. Whether they reciprocated or now, I didn't know.

Man, I hoped so.

…

 **WHEW! Man, I spent so much time on this chapter, I hope I did well on it. This was a long one, and I can say that I myself am personally very satisfied with it.**

 **I kept thinking about what I should make the boss while writing the first part of this chapter, and I just kept thinking of creatures associated with the sea when it randomly came to me, no joke, "What about the Axolotl? Has anyone ever seen that as threatening?" All I can say is that I hope I did a good job writing the boss fight, as sometimes that can be one of the trickier things for me to do.**

 **As always, please leave a review, maybe constructive criticism, and as always, thank you all so much for reading!**

 **-Silver**


	5. Chapter 5: Moments

_Chapter 5: Moments_

After that day in the Abyssal Ruins, Mataras, Saphira and I kept in touch from time to time, even going on quests together when we had free time. Although I did find that I had a lot of time to myself for the most part after that adventure on Floor 5.

"So you really never noticed me during the boss raids up until we officially met on Floor 5?" I asked him while we trudged through one of the forests on Floor 13.

He shrugged. "You just seem to have a natural affinity for subtlety." He answered. "Fitting for someone who decided to be a treasure hunter, though."

I rubbed the back of my neck as He said this. "Yea...thanks again for helping me out with this area, guys."

"It's no problem!" Saphira chimed. "Out of curiosity though, did you want to come down here because you think that you're going to find...whatever it is that you're looking for?"

My walking slowed down slightly, but picked back up a few seconds later. "...Honestly, I don't think it'll be here. All I got was that there was some sort of valuable treasure here."

"Are you ever going to tell us what it is you're searching for?" Mataras asked me.

I simply smirked in response, as if that was all he needed. In reality, I hoped to tell them after I found it, if not for the sake of secrecy. What I sought...well, it was more valuable to me than all the cor stored up in Aincrad.

I didn't want anyone taking it before I did.

…

By the time we reached the end, it wasn't a boss that was waiting for us, rather a very well hidden treasure chest. It was a good thing that my detection skill was rather high, and I found the thing with relative ease. Getting to it though was a different matter unto itself, as it was embedded pretty deep in the side of a cliff.

Once we were able to get the thing out, we were all rewarded with 10,000 Cor each, along with a rather strong ingot. There was only one, so I suggested we roll a die to see who gets it, but the two of them insisted that this was my quest. After a bit more persuading, I almost begrudgingly accepted it. It just seemed...unfair to me, but they kept insisting.

…

"Well, that was fun." I remarked as soon as we left the forest, lightly stretching my arms. Nightfall was approaching as the setting sun could be seen in the distance.

Mataras nodded. "Yes it was."

Saphira smirked. "You know, we go on quests together so often that people might think we're part of a guild or some other."

I stopped for a second "Correction." I tell her. "They will think that you two are part of a guild or some other." At that point the two of them had started earning something of a reputation as some of the best front line fighters, as small as it currently was. I, on the other hand, was hardly known by anyone.

I suppose Mataras was right. I really must have a natural affinity for subtlety.

Saphira frowns at this. "Oh." That was all she could say.

Without waiting for them or any other response, I pulled out a teleport crystal. "Alright then. I suppose I'll see you two then!" I raised my crystal in the sky before letting out a shout. "Teleport Wileris!" It was seconds later when I disappeared in a flash of light.

…

After Phantom left them in a flash of light, Saphira turned to her brother. "Phantom's a nice guy and all, but do you agree that he's sometimes...socially oblivious?"

"Either that or he's aware of them and has his own way of responding to social cues."

Saphira merely shook her head. "Man, you are just in an argumentative mood, aren't you?" Mataras simply gave her a 'meh' face.

…

Reaching the familiar oceanside town during a clear day, I decided to simply sit down on a nearby bench and reassess my items and equipment.

My old katana has long since broken, now replaced with a new sword; a simple one-handed longsword reminiscent of Arthurian legends. Like my old katana, it was nothing too extravagant to look at. Just a simple sword, nothing more, nothing less.

In a strange way, it reminded me of myself.

My armor, if you could even technically call it that, was largely unchanged. I still donned the dark blue trench coat that I had, same black shirt and trousers, but I got rid of the hood, replacing it with something new to my outfit: a long dark green scarf that went down to my knees.

I found it as a rare treasure from completing a quest where I had to defeat a strong and equally fast AI rouge from terrorizing a town. The scarf itself was titled "Windchaser" and it boosted my own speed by 25.

I still wore my mask. It was arguably one of my favorite pieces of equipment, with the sentimental value that I placed in it.

Scrolling through my small treasure trove within my inventory, I eventually summoned the newest ingot I received from the latest quest I undertook with Saphira and Mataras.

It was called Rainstone when I checked its item description, but it wouldn't tell me any more than that. My appraisal skill apparently wasn't exactly high enough to detect item stats, or at the absolute minimum, ingot stats.

Sighing to myself and vowing to soon change that, I decided to eventually take the ingot to a friend of mine who had a higher appraisal skill. At first I wanted to take it to him right away, but looking up in the sky, it was just about dusk.

Putting the ingot away, I decided to grab myself a drink and crash for the night on my sloop afterwards.

While making my way to the cafe, I noticed someone who was new in town. I visited this town quite often, and a lot of people I met were regulars around, so it was odd to see a new face.

Sitting underneath a big tree in the center of the town square, there sat a young girl with brown hair on a small red rug. She wore a tan/brown outfit for the most part, but the most interesting thing was the fact that she was sitting cross-legged in front of an anvil, a hammer resting on top. Next to her, propped up, was a sign that said 'Smith Shop.'

Their eyes met, and for a moment, I thought about going over to her.

 _She's a blacksmith, that much is obvious. Wants to perform her profession, even though she clearly doesn't have an official shop. Not many customers since she was resting her head in her hands with a frown, a clear sign of boredom-_

I froze. I didn't notice that our eyes were still trained on each other, but something else was going through my head.

Out of panic at what I unwittingly did, I quickly sped away from the area, unaware of the social rudeness at the time.

Pulling my scarf over my mouth, I subconsciously navigated the town as I made my way to Cafe Zephyr, my mind cascading with thoughts.

Or more precisely, a single thought that repeated itself in my head over and over again.

 _Stop observing. Stop observing. Stop observing…_

…

When I finally reached Cafe Zephyr, my mind stopped accelerating and finally calmed down. It was almost stressful, thinking a mile a minute. Or at least it was when I didn't want to.

 _Maybe a good cup of coffee will do me good._ I thought to myself as I entered the cafe. I was about to go and sit down at my usual place, but something stopped me dead in my tracks:

There was a group of people sitting at my usual table.

This threw me off, because while this restaurant was public and anyone could sit anywhere, almost nobody else really came here.

If anything, Mataras, Saphira and I were all regulars here.

I was going to simply sit down at another table, but my curiosity got the better of me. Looking around, I eventually spied Terrise, the waitress who I first met here and now-close friend of mine and quickly made my way to her.

Giving her a light tap on the shoulder, she turned around, a puzzled expression initially on her face, but it then changed to a warm smile. "Oh! Phantom! How're you doing this evening?"

"I'm doing good." I tell her in a rather uninterested tone. "Erm, I hope I don't come across as rude, but who are those people over there and why are they sitting at my table?" I ask her, pointing to the odd group as they all raise their glasses in what I assume to be a toast.

Peering to where I was pointing, she simply shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. Just a large party of six that came in."

Before she could continue, I decided to leave my knowledge at that and waved her off. "Thanks." I told her. "Could I get my usual please?"

She nodded. "Hazelnut with a dash of vanilla? Sure thing!"

Taking a seat at another table that was relatively close to them, I couldn't help but notice one of the people there: Someone who was dressed completely in black. He seemed a bit more reserved, as the rest of the group seemed to be rather open with each other. The oddest thing was that the one in black seemed familiar to me, yet I couldn't place it.

Now conscious of my observing due to the incident prior to the cafe, I halted my brain before it could start, simply writing in my journal while waiting for my coffee.

 _Day 153,_

 _After completing another quest with Mataras and Saphira, which rewarded me with a special ingot that I hope to get forged later, I came to Cafe Zephyr to only find a group of people at my table. It isn't any major issue, but I feel as if I know one of the players…_

When I finished writing, Terrise brought my coffee over, and gave me a smile before returning to her other duties.

I simply took a sip while eying the player in black for a bit, before eventually leaving.

I was curious as to why he felt familiar to me, but I realized that it wasn't my business, and sticking my nose where it doesn't belong is the absolute last thing that I will do.

Trekking through the streets and to the docks, where my Sloop was anchored, I walked aboard via gangplank and entered the small captain's quarters in the back area, if it could even be called that.

All there was for room was a small bed and table with a couple of maps and books scattered on top.

Quickly opening my menu and changing into my sleepwear, which consisted of flannel pants and a white t-shirt, I fell onto the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

…

Phantom soon found himself spiraling deep into the darkness and through the river of his dreams as the pitch black surrounding him was soon replaced with vibrant colors that he could not describe.

It was mere moments later that his feet hit solid ground, but it was like he didn't feel any impact at all, as if someone froze him where he was and gently placed a level surface under his feet.

Then, a scene before him began to twist and form until he was in what looked like a child's bedroom.

"And being very tired and having nothing inside him, He felt so sorry for himself that the tears rolled down his cheeks." A woman was reading to what looked to be his son who looked no older than 6, hair as light and blond as the sun itself. He kept rolling around, constantly adjusting his position on the bed, but it seemed to be almost always leaning on his mother. "What put a stop to all of this was a sudden fright. Shasta discovered that someone or somebody was walking beside him."

She continued to read to him about the boy known as Shasta and the being who was walking beside him in total darkness. She described how Shasta at first feared the being, mistaking it for a giant in the fantastical world. She read of how the terror within him almost made him run, but he eventually gained the courage to ask a question to the being.

"Who are you?" The mother recited to her son. Then, taking up a deep voice that was almost comical, but in a way sombering, she continued reading, speaking in the voice of the being, "One who has waited long for you to speak,"

She then detailed the short conversation between the boy Shasta and the mysterious being, all the while the young boy laying at her side listened intently, wonder in his eyes. Perhaps it was the fact that it was all a dream, or if he wasn't thinking in this moment, but Phantom couldn't recall what it was he was seeing.

She continued to tell of Shasta and how he feared the thing was a giant or something from the dead, wishing that the being would go away. She then described how the Being breathed a breath of warm air in Shasta's face before saying "That is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows."

Phantom watched as the Mother told her child of Shasta's woes. How he seemed to always be chased to the point of death by a lion. How he was in the harsh desert air and longed for the taste of water or bread. How he was alone in the tombs of the dead and now alone with only a being he deeply feared.

The boy's eyes then grew wide as his mother spoke in the voice of the mysterious being. "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you as you slept." She then turned to her child, who was listening with eyes wide with wonder. "Do you know who that is?"

He gave her a childish smile before telling her, "Aslan! It's the lion, Aslan!"

Phantom continued to watch the scene unfold before his eyes, until finally after what seemed like an eternity, the mother closed the book she was reading to her son, and tucked him in, preparing him for bed.

When she was about to turn off the light and walk out of the room, her son asked, "Mama, is Aslan really real?" He asked her. She simply smiled at him as she responded. "Yes, of course he is real." She walked back over and sat on his bed one last time. "Although he is only known as Aslan in another world. In this world, he is known by another name."

The boy's eyes grew wide with what seemed to be excitement. "Really? What's his name?"

She chuckled. "I'll make you a deal. It's very late, but I promise that we can talk all about it tomorrow morning as long as you want." She held out her pinky to him. "Deal?"

He looped his pinky around her own. "Deal!" he tells her, smile reaching from ear to ear."

Watching the scene unfold, Phantom felt an unnatural feeling on his face. Reaching up to touch it, he felt something that he knew quite well.

Tears.

…

It was early morning when Phantom woke up. The dream was still in his mind as well as the sorrow he felt he dressed and got ready for the day, although he soon dismissed it. It wasn't good to think of the past.

When he exited his sloop and got onto the land, it was about 6:30, give or take. Pretty early for most, but that wasn't saying much since a small amount of Aincrad's population insisted that noon was way too early.

Looking out to the sea, he sat down next to the edge of the water and waited for one of his favorite parts of the day.

His waiting finally paid off as he saw the tip of the sun hit the sky, filling the floor with a small glimpse of its light, but it was more than enough.

Phantom took a long breath, the fresh morning air of the sea filling his lungs. This was truly the best moment of any day.

After a few more minutes of the sight, he decided to finally get up and head over to my friend's place to get the ingot properly appraised.

Walking through the early morning air, I made it to the central square, the location of the floor warp gate. What surprised me though was who else was there.

Sitting exactly in the same way in the same spot, was the girl from yesterday. Sign up, anvil in front of her.

Either she got up really early or she never got to bed...I couldn't tell which, but either way, that was some serious commitment.

She didn't notice me, but seeing her there with all her commitment...I didn't know how many customers she has had, but…

I don't know what drove me to walk over to her. Not even to this day.

"You know if you continue sitting out here, one of these days some crazed maniac with a key will come along shouting 'where's the Blacksmith?'"

She nearly jumped off her rug. She whipped her head towards me before calming down. "God, you scared me."

I simply rubbed the back of my neck in response. "I'm told I do-do that a lot, appa-apparently."

She eyed me warily. "Can I help you sir?" She asked after a moment. Thinking for a bit about what course of action I should take, I eventually took a seat in front of her, sitting on my right leg while propping up my left.

"You're-you're a Blacksmith, right?"

Her mouth quickly curved into a smile. "Yessir! This is Lisbeth's Blacksmith Shop!"

I tilted my head. "Not exactly the-the largest of-of establishments, no?"

Her smile slipped almost as fast as it appeared. "I'll have you know that my shop is a legitimate business!"

"Not enough Cor to actually own-own a building?"

Her eyebrows furrowed, almost in agitation. "Sir, if all you want to do is insult my shop, then I would have to ask you to leave and take your stuttering with you."

I blinked. Was I stuttering? I hadn't noticed for some reason. I took a breath as I went over my next words in my head, before reciting them to the Smith. "My apologies, Miss. I suppose I speak my mind too often." I pulled up my menu and brought out the Rainstone Ingot. "I was wondering how-how high your appraisal skill is?"

She folds her arms. "High enough."

I sigh. "Where have I heard that before?" I mutter under my breath as I hold the ingot out to her. Accepting it, she opened her menu and started appraising it. After it was finished, she raised her eyebrow.

"Where in the world did you get this ingot? Rainstone of all things?" She asked.

"I'm a treasure hunter." I responded. "I suppose it would be trade secrets. Why do you ask?"

She looked up from the ingot and stared me in the eye. "This isn't a metal that can be used to make blades. It only makes hilts." I blink a few times, trying to register the information she gave me.

"...Huh." I simply respond. "Didn't think that was an option in the crafting system."

She shook her head. "Neither did I, yet here it is."

I put my index finger under my nose as I closed my eyes and went into thought. _An ingot meant to be used to make a hilt…_

"Um...sir?" The girl asked me, snapping me out of my brief thoughts.

I bowed to her. "Well, thank you for your service, Lisbeth was it?" I told her as I stood up. "I'll be back with another ingot to compliment the Rainstone. In the meantime, you can hold onto it." I swiped open my menu, navigating through it to get to the option that I wanted.

She practically jumped to her feet. "H-Hey! You can't just leave like that without- " A screen popped up in front of her. "...Paying?" Her eyes widened as she looked at the amount. "20,000 Cor?!" She said in disbelief? "Why're you paying me THIS much?"

I pulled my scarf up over my lower face, right above my nose, underneath my mask. "Consider it an advanced payment. After all, you're going to be the one to forge my new sword."

She nearly dropped the ingot in surprise. "But...but...You don't even know my blacksmithing skill! Why would you just 'decide' that I'm gonna forge a sword for you?"

I pushed my mask up my face like it was a pair of glasses before responding. "A blacksmith who isn't worth their salt wouldn't sit out in the freezing cold of the morning waiting for a customer to come up and commission a work. Besides, are you saying that you DON'T want to forge a sword for a customer?"

She was speechless, her mouth moving up and down, but no words coming out of it. I simply give her a small bow as I turn and start to walk away. "Keep moving forward, Lisbeth the Blacksmith." I tell her as I walk away.

…

 **This particular chapter was based on two things. The first is an image I found on pinterest where Asuna is meeting Lis in a similar fashion that I detailed in this chapter: Lis sitting on a rug, anvil in front of her and sign next to her.**

 **The second bit of inspiration is honestly my own childhood. My dad read to me and my siblings the Chronicles of Narnia almost every night before we went to sleep. This particular excerpt was from The Horse and his Boy, my favorite book in the series.**

 **(also I don't own Narnia. Don't call a lawyer)**

 **I would also like to note that while things may seem random from time to time in my stories, I try to make everything I write have a purpose in the overall story.**

 **As always, thanks so much for reading, leave a review perhaps, and I'll see you all next time!**

 **-Silver**


	6. Chapter 6: Voice

_Chapter 6: Voice_

It had been a couple days since I left Lisbeth with the Rainstone. I didn't know what I was going to do to get a metal that would be a good compliment to the other ingot, but all I really knew was that it was a big world. There was bound to be something.

So, with that mindset, I wandered through as much of the cleared 24 floors as possible, hoping to find the metal that I was looking for. Not the best strategy for someone who was a self-proclaimed treasure hunter, but what was the saying? The journey is more important than the destination.

Stepping out of the warp gate, my feet met solid cobblestone. The main town of Floor 17 was almost like a wasteland of canyons and cliffsides. A lot of people didn't like this floor because of that.

But every floor has its own beauty in its own way.

The town of Therion was rather interesting in its own right, because a vast majority of the buildings and structures were built right in the cliffs and crags, making every home here essentially like a cave. Yes, some of the wealthier areas in town were inlaid with wood floors and ceilings, but the fact remained that it was a cave nonetheless.

Honestly this was a town that reminded me a lot of Ikana Canyon. That was a good game. Good level.

Slowly walking through the town and taking in my surroundings, I felt the wind bite at my skin despite wearing a trench coat and scarf. It reminded me of the cold winds of Northern California if I was being perfectly honest.

My feet continued to trudge through the town, as if they were on auto pilot, leading me to my destination. Home. I haven't thought about my old home for a long time. It was odd. It was one of my favorite places in the world, and yet it slipped out of my memories...No, that wasn't what happened, and I knew it.

That memory was forced out. With so many others.

So then why now, of all times, have they been slowly coming back to me?

When I finally came back to my senses, I realized that I unconsciously walked out of the town and into the entrance of the canyon. Looking behind me briefly, It seemed to me like the town entrance was abandoned. Lifeless in a sense. I merely faced back forward and slowly trudged on.

I don't know why, but as I continued on my never-ending walk through the canyon and into the field of monsters, I felt down. There didn't even seem to be any particular reason for it. It was just one of those feelings that you had.

An enemy spawned in front of me. It seemed to be something akin to a miniature golem-like creature. It seemed almost inconsequential to me. Granted it somewhat was as this was a floor that was a bit below my skill level. Taking a sigh, I simply drew my dagger as it started running towards me in a wobbling fashion. It was almost comedic.

As it raised its rock-like fists to strike me, I rushed past it while slashing at it with my dagger, which promptly cut off its arm. Turning around, I saw that it brought his health down by a third. It started to turn around in a second attempt at my life, but its clunky slowness was its downfall. I was too fast, it didn't even have a chance to blink as I struck my dagger in what seemed to be it's head. The attack to its weak point plus my much higher level ended the pitiful creature's life as it shattered to nothing.

I simply put away my dagger and continued on my wandering way.

What was I doing? There was no reason for me to have this...empty feeling. I didn't know what it was or why I had it. And I hate not knowing.

I let out a small sigh to myself. _Think, Phantom. Think. That's all you need to do. What is it that you want?_ In this moment? Two things. _And what ARE those two things?_ The first is to find out the source of this emptiness. The second? Perhaps to find a metal for a new sword.

It was here when I realized I was talking to myself.

"What am I doing here?" I asked out loud. I stared up at the sky, which seemed to have gotten rather cloudy, to the point that sunlight was blocked out. Any other person would have thought that it might have started raining soon, but I recognized rain and their clouds. These weren't those clouds.

"When in doubt, just keep writing."

A voice spoke behind me. I whipped around while drawing my dagger from its sheath, only to find nothing but the environment of the canyon that I had walked. There was no one there.

My eyes scan the area this way and that, trying to find the source of the voice, but I couldn't find anything. That was...impossible.

I know I heard someone...this is practically a straight road, there is no way anyone could have disappeared that quickly...

Yet there was nothing with me but the silence of the wind.

Waiting for another second or two, I slowly put away my dagger. I sighed to myself, even bringing my head to my eye, as if I was having a headache. "What...what on earth was that?" I ask to no one in particular. I unconsciously wandered to one of the canyon's walls and took a seat, leaning my back against it. My thoughts were racing through my head. It wasn't until another mini-golem spawned in front of me while I was sitting down that I remembered where I was.

I may have been fast, but with my guard lowered, the mini-golem was able to take a few good hits on me before I sprung to my feet and was able to slash it a few times, thankfully in the head. It's HP reached zero, and I was safe.

Glancing at my own health bar, I found that the Golem was able to take just about a fifth of my health away.

 _I can't stop here._ I told myself. Find the safe zone. _Then I can stop and think..._

Getting up, I start to head on my way. Not back to the town though, I continue down the dungeon. I walk. I think.

The voice...I felt as though I heard it before. It was eerie though. I couldn't have heard it. No one was there. It was impossible. It had to have been my imagination.

My walking sped up. I was imagining it. Yes, that was it...

I was speed walking at this point. My nerves were on edge, and I had no idea why. Why was I on edge? This voice...Was it truly my imagination? I know I heard it. No one was there. No one was there.

At the same time...Why was it so familiar?

I didn't even notice that I was running. All I knew was that I had to get somewhere. It didn't matter to me anymore if I made it to a safe zone or not, only that I had to be anywhere else. _Anywhere_.

I was sprinting. A couple of mini-golems spawned around me, but I kept sprinting past them. It didn't concern me that I was missing them.

I was thinking, and yet at the same time I couldn't think. My head was thinking of so many different things, the voice, what it could have been, why I was wandering out here instead of actually having a destination in mind, all of this running through my head like a cross country runner on his last leg, the finish line in sight. The thing was that I couldn't think of the thing that I NEEDED to be thinking of in that moment:

Where exactly I was running to.

Or rather, what exactly I was running into.

My thoughts and my speed are abruptly stopped when I feel something collide with me and my running course. With me having reached a rather high running speed, the result was both me and whatever I hit being flung through the air, and colliding with the ground several feet away.

I wasn't able to get up for a few seconds as my head was spinning too much for me to focus. I barely registered some type of yell from a bit away, and another sound next to me.

Letting out a small groan, I push myself off the ground and get into the sitting position where I was able to accurately gauge my surroundings and what happened. Lying not so far away from me was a person who seemed to be dressed completely in black. Looking towards the yell I heard, there was a young girl who was running towards us. She was dressed almost completely in a mix of blue and white. In my disoriented state, I initially thought that it was Saphira.

Bringing my hand to my head, covering my eye as if I had a headache, I took another look at the girl approaching us, and I noticed several differences to the friend I knew as Saphira. Mainly her hair being short as opposed to Saphira's long hair, and the fact that she carried herself around in a different manner, though I currently couldn't tell exactly how.

I brought myself to my feet, my eyes falling to the young man dressed in black as he slowly stood up also, obviously banged up from our collision, though nothing too bad. I looked to my HP bar, and found that only a 15th of my health was gone from our collision course. Nothing major, like I expected.

When he stood up though, something about him seemed...off to me. I couldn't place the feeling though.

"Kirito! Are you alright?" The young girl in blue reached us and I was able to tell her differences a bit more. While Saphira carried herself with a more confident yet gentle air, this girl showed more of...timidity, I suppose.

The person I ran into simply gave a nod and a stretch. "Yea, I'm fine. Just a scratch."

Feeling kind of awkward for having disturbed the pair, I bowed to both of them. "Erm...For-forgive me for running into-into you, Sir. I really need to-to watch where I'm-I'm going..."

"Oh, don't mention it. Not the first time I gained a scratch." The person in black told me. Head still looking down in the 'bowing' position, I stuttered out "Yea, but-but I feel bad for-for disturbing you..." I started to swiftly walk away. "I-I'll be going. So-so sorry again-"

"Hey, wait!" The person called to me. I froze in place, caught off guard by his reaction. I turned around to see him rubbing his neck while looking to the girl. "Don't beat yourself up over it. It's not that big a deal."

I was going to say something in response, I don't recall what, but taking in this character, it clicked with me on why he seemed so odd to me before.

"...Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're that player who was in Cafe Zephyr the other day? With the group of other players?"

Shock very briefly made its way to the person's face, but it soon passed after a few moments. "Erm...Yeah, actually. Do I know you?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't believe we've met officially, but I did notice you and your group in the cafe when you sat in my spot."

An embarrassed look briefly crossed his eyes. "Erm...I didn't know you had a seat in that cafe..."

I wave him off. "Oh, there was no way to know, it's fine. I was just curious to you, that's all." I extend my hand to him. "I'm Phantom."

He accepts my hand as we shake. "Kirito. Nice to meet you." He motions to the girl who stood next to him. "This is Sachi."

She simply nods to me before saying "Hello."

Awkward silence.

I brought my hands behind my back. Still awkward silence. "Well..." I start, trying to ease into something better than our current atmosphere. "...May I ask why-why the two of you are-are out here?"

Kirito seemed as relieved as I was that the awkward silence was broken. "Oh, I was actually training Sachi. She isn't as high of a level as the rest of the guild we're in, and...well, we're trying to change that."

Training session, huh? "Well, again, I'm-I'm sorry for colliding with you-you like that...I feel like I should-should make it up to you-you somehow." A thought comes to my head. "If you two are-are free sometime, maybe I-I could buy the two of you a drink..." I see Kirito raise his hand, as if he's about to protest, but I cut him off. "It-it's no trouble to me-me at all. It'll just stay-stay in my head until I can-can make it up."

Kirito seemed to think about it for a second. After a moment, Sachi spoke up. "If...if he really wants to, then it couldn't hurt."

…

 **This chapter was really difficult for me to write out. I dunno why though. Thought I should say that's why it took so long.**

 **First, I want to address something: the last chapter basically ended with Lisbeth, and the reason I made a departure from that particular "arc" for lack of a better word is the fact that it will be taking place throughout the story. I didn't want to immediately give Phantom a sword from Lis, but I couldn't just NOT put that chapter, since Lisbeth without a shop would have happened pretty early in SAO's time.**

 **Just something I wanted to say.**

 **Also, I wanted to have Phantom meet Kirito and Sachi (and by extension the rest of the Black Cats), but I couldn't really think of a "good" way to make them meet up. I decided by chance encounter, and I was originally going to draw it out a bit more, my struggle in writing this made me cut it here. Rest assured, this is will become essential, and Phantom's and Kirito's/Black Cat's relation will be brought out more in the next chapter.**

 **Granted I know this isn't my finest, but let me know what you think of it!**

 **-Silver**


	7. Chapter 7: Outlier

_Chapter 7: Outlier_

"Want to go again?" I ask Sachi, reaching out my hand as she laid in a heap on the ground, having fallen from our spar. She let out a sigh as she accepted the hand and rose to her feet. Kirito chuckled a bit on the sidelines.

Turning to him with my hand on the hilt of my dagger, I asked, "What's so funny?"

He rubs the back of his head. "I just find it funny how you've said the exact same thing the entire day you've been sparring with Sachi."

I lightly grabbed the side of my other arm as I tried to think of a response to that. "Well…do I need to say something different?"

"Not at all." Sachi replies next to me. "It doesn't matter what you say. I don't think so, anyways."

I tugged lightly at my coat collar. It has been a while since I met Kirito and Sachi, along with the other members of the Moonlit Black Cats, and since I've joined up with them, I felt…I dunno, in all honesty. It's been a feeling that I hadn't normally felt, I know that much.

I sent Sachi another duel invite, and the timer started counting down the second she pressed 'accept.'

I lightly as I readied my sword once again. Giving it a single swing, I held my sword with one hand as I guarded my self, my blade at a diagonal angle. Sachi on the other hand simply held her sword in both her hands in front of her, something of a more traditional sword stance.

When the timer reached zero, Sachi made the first move after a few seconds, trying a simple swing to try and hit me.

I saw the attack coming and was able to jump to the side, dodging it entirely. An opening was available to hit Sachi's side, and I didn't hesitate to take it.

Sachi improved however, and while she wasn't able to completely block the attack, she used the continued momentum from her previous attack to continue moving forward, earning a nick rather than the full brunt of the attack. That nick was still able to bring down a seventh of her HP.

"Better." I told her, as she spun around to face me. Her face wasn't one of complete confidence, but it was a bit more than the completely shy and terrified face that I had grown to know in training her in the past 2 months.

She followed up with a swing to my legs which I was able to jump over, but she surprised me by following up with a downward strike straight to the head. As good a technique that was, she was still too slow.

I was able to parry the blow to my side, then followed up with an upward swing, straight at the cross guard of her sword.

Sachi evidently didn't expect a move like that, and the force of the blow caused her to lose her grip, and the sword went flying to the side a good amount of feet.

I was preparing one last attack to finish it when I saw it: Her face carried an expression of shock and pure terror.

I let out a war cry as I unleashed one final swing to her neck.

Only to stop mere inches from her skin.

There was nothing but pure silence between the two of us. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds.

I let out a sigh and put my blade back in its sheath. "Sachi. You've gotten better. But you still aren't good."

She slowly clasped her hands together. "Wha…what do you mean?"

I sighed. Saphira DID tell me that sometimes I was too blunt for my own good. "What I mean is that you almost always give up when you think you lose. You freeze up, your eyes show nothing but terror. The single most important rule of any duel is to not let your guard down for any reason. Even if you think you will lose."

I noticed Kirito started walking over to us, but I ignored him and continued. "You need to learn to fight as if your life depends on it. Because one day it will." I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a healing potion before tossing it lightly to Sachi.

"Well, I think that's enough for the day. It was a good spar, but I have somewhere I need to go." I give the two of them a wave as I start walking away.

"Wait! Keita said he wanted us all at a meeting tonight!" Kirito called after me. "You coming to that?"

I simply shrugged my shoulders and continued walking. "I already have an engagement I need to go to. If you could message me the gist of what he says, that would be great." When I made it to the teleport gate a short ways away, I spoke where I wanted to go, and I left in a flash of light.

…

Watching Phantom disappear through the Teleport Gate, I couldn't help but play what he told me in my mind over and over again.

Kirito let out a sigh next to me. "Say what you will about Phantom, but I feel that he sometimes doesn't care about doing actual guild work."

I lightly smiled at him. "It makes you wonder why he even joined us in the first place if that's the case." Kirito simply responded with a laugh, but My mind went back to my thoughts.

Phantom was right. I always did freeze up. I knew exactly why, and I wouldn't be surprised if Phantom knew why also. He was one of the most perceptive people I knew.

I was terrified.

…

It was later that evening when I walked through the door to Café Zephyr. I looked around to see if Mataras or Saphira already made it here, and scanning the area, it wasn't long before I saw Saphira waving to me from our usual table, Mataras giving a small smile. Honestly that was probably the happiest I was ever going to see the guy.

Walking over and plopping down in the seat across from them, I gave each of them a warm smile. "How're you two doing?"

"Fine, thanks for asking!" Saphira responded with an equal smile. We decided to make it a habit to meet each other at this café once a week. "Any new finds, Mr. Treasure Hunter?"

I let out a sigh. "Not much, sadly. A spare item here and there, but I've been mainly helping my guild train up one of our members for the majority of the time I have."

Mataras nodded. "Sachi, right? How's that going for you?"

I put a hand on the side of my head as if I was having some kind of headache. "Well, it's…it's going, I can tell you that. Poor girl has gotten much better than when we first met, but she still has a long way to go."

Mataras let out a small chuckle. "You said that someone else was also helping to train her, Kirito was it? Why is it that both of you train her again?"

I simply shrugged. "Dunno myself. Keita apparently thinks that while Kirito can teach her in the strength department, he thinks I can teach her in the 'strategy and maneuver department,' his words, not mine."

"You make it sound like you two are the strongest in the group."

My hand moved from the side of my head to running through my hair, in and out. "Well…funny thing, they don't really know my real level."

The two across from me grew a surprised look on their faces. "…Why?" Saphira asked me. "I mean, what are their level averages?"

I sighed. "Around level 32 now, give or take."

"Phantom." Mataras starts. "Why haven't you told them that you're, what was it, in the 40s?"

Saphira nodded. "Yea, I mean it's not like they'll kick you from the group or something like that."

My hand starts running faster through my hair. "No-no. Of course not. It-it's…" I took a deep breath as I pulled my hand away from my head. "You know how in some games if you go against a tough monster or some other, you tend to send in your strongest of the team and the rest practically "bite the dust," so to speak?" They nodded. "Well, I feel that's the same scenario. I don't want them to rely heavily on me when something tough comes for them."

"So you're testing them." Mataras bluntly tells me. "Watching to see how they do to see if they can measure up. Observing them."

I shake my head at him. "I prefer to not think of it like that. They all are good when it comes to this game, I just don't want them to lose that if they rely on me. That's all." I leaned back in my seat. "Besides, I told you two that I don't like being so quote-un-quote 'observant.'"

She tilted her head. "You never tell us why that's the case, though."

I shrugged. "Maybe I just don't like it." Deciding to try and change the subject, I asked them a different question. "Out of curiosity, why don't you two go and join a guild?"

"We don't want to be in a guild with just anyone." Mataras flatly responded.

I gave a slow nod. "Oh, I see. Gotcha."

Saphira not-so-subtly elbowed Mataras in the side when he gave that response. "It's not what you think, Mataras just put it wrong. We don't really…what's the word…wanna be in a guild with a bunch of people that we don't even know. We'd rather be in a guild with a few close friends."

I smirk at them. "Isn't that the entire reason to play an MMO? To make friends online?"

Saphira returned the smirk. "You're not really one to talk, are you?"

I thought about that for a moment. "Fair enough."

I was about to say something else when a message popped up in front of me. Quickly tapping the 'read' button, I saw that it was a message from Keita. I was about to brush it off as him telling me to come to the meeting, but as my eyes skimmed the message, I found it was something else entirely, along with something that I cared about."

Looking back to the pair across from me, I started to apologize. "Sorry guys, but something just came up and I have to go take care of this."

"What is it?" Mataras asked me. I stood up and straightened out my coat.

"Apparently the guild lost Sachi. Gotta go find her." Giving them each a fist bump, I quickly made my way out of the restaurant.

…

Checking my friends list, I saw that Sachi was hanging out somewhere on Floor 11, so I immediately began my search there. It was nightfall by this time, so the most I had to guide me was the light of the moon along with a few stray street candles.

A draft of wind that blew my way sent a chill down my spine, despite being dressed for the cold. In response to this, I lifted my scarf above my mouth and nose and held my coat closed with one hand while checking my menu and friends list with my other.

Most of the streets were empty, aside from the random player I occasionally bumped into, but we didn't interact.

Either way, my mind thought of Sachi as I followed my map to her location, my feet taking me to a walkway along one of the towns' rivers. The fact that she ran off wasn't particularly startling in my mind, but I was confused all the same. Sure, she wasn't the bravest person in the guild, but I didn't get why she would run off.

"I always asked myself that same question." A male voice behind me spoke.

My feet froze in place. Slowly turning around, I barely saw in the gleam of the moon a lone figure, their form completely obscured by a long black cloak, leaning against one of the walls.

It wasn't his being here that made me stop dead in my tracks though. a chill once again crept up my spine, though there wasn't any wind during this moment.

It was his voice.

"Who…who are you?" I asked, a hesitant tone in my voice.

Silence. I couldn't see the stranger's face underneath his black hood, but I felt as if he was staring daggers into me.

The sound of cloth in the wind and running footsteps behind me made me spin around. All I saw though was a simple glimpse of black turning around a corner a little bit ahead.

Curious, but also wanting to know the stranger's identity, I once again turned to face the black-cloaked man.

All I saw was an empty walkway.

Puzzled, I walked towards the space the stranger stood and looked around, perhaps see anywhere he might've hidden off to.

There was nowhere he could have gone. Not that quickly anyways.

There was something gnawing at the back of my mind about this, but my puzzled self brushed it off for now as I had more pressing issues to deal with, least of all a disappearing figure.

Deciding to once again follow my friend's list map, I made my way through the streets, slowly but steadily coming up on the blinking dot that signified Sachi's location until after what seemed like forever, I came to one of the bridges in town.

Looking at my map, I found that my own location almost perfectly overlapped with Sachi's.

It was here when I heard her voice.

"If I had the courage to die, I wouldn't hide within the safety of the town, would I?"

I stopped. That was Sachi's voice for sure. But…who was she talking to?

"Hey, why can't we leave this place? Why do we have to die, even though it's a game?" Her voice was starting to crack. I was considering jumping down and revealing myself to Her. Perhaps I could have gotten her to leave with me that night, heading back to the guild. I don't know. But something compelled me to lean against the bridge railing, simply listening to what Sachi was saying.

"Hey, it's going to be fine." I heard another voice speak out. Most likely who Sachi was actually telling this all to. I didn't see him, but I recognized his voice: Kirito. "You aren't going to die anytime soon. You'll get stronger. Phantom and I will make sure of it."

"…Phantom was right, you know." My body subconsciously tensed at that. "I freeze up when I feel like I'm about to die."

"Well…I think we might be able to work around that in-" Kirito started, but he was soon cut off by something that was burned into my mind for the rest of my time in SAO.

"You didn't see his face today, Kirito. That last spar, when he disarmed me and was preparing to strike…" Silence for a few seconds. "I thought…I thought he was going to kill me."

Silence. Nothing could be heard between all parties except the sound of the river flowing in the moonlight.

"Phantom would never kill you. You know that right?"

"I...I know. But I feel the fact that I believed that during a training match of all things...Maybe I'm just not ready."

"Sachi. Please, I want you to trust me. You aren't going to die in here. I promise you."

"...Kirito. Thank you."

"Yea. Don't mention it."

I didn't hear anything else as I started to walk away from the bridge.

Walking through the empty town with the wind in my hair, I didn't have any specific destination in my mind, just wandering through the streets. Sachi's words still rang in my ears.

 _Was I...truly like that? Was I too much?_

I didn't do anything else for much of that evening except drift. Drifting through shadows of the night as echoes from the depths of my mind returned, triggered by Sachi's words. I couldn't do anything to block them out. I didn't want to be like this.

I didn't want to be the person who was feared or the person who was the outcast. I tried to reassure myself. If I was the outcast that I painted myself to be, I wouldn't be in this guild. Right?

The pit of my mind told me one thing though that I felt shattered my spirit: Sachi's words...They're so similar. So similar to the ones that were echoing in my brain as I drifted to the inn the guild stayed.

" _Stop it! Just stop it, you...you_ freak _!"_

…

"Kirito, I was wondering if we could chat."

It was the end of one of the days we were both training Sachi, and I was about to hit the hay when I heard a knock on my door. Opening it up, there stood Phantom in his usual coat and scarf, but he seemed to be...tense, for some reason. Well, maybe not as tense in the normal use of the word, but it was the only way I could describe it for Phantom. He seemed to always have either a persona of collected calm, or nervous around strangers. Today seemed to be somewhere in-between the two.

"Oh. Um...of course. Come in."

Inviting him in, he seemed to look around the little inn room, as if he was searching for something. I could never tell what he was thinking at times. After a few seconds he took a seat at one of the spare chairs, and I sat on the bed facing him. "So, what was it you needed to chat about?" I asked him. He took a deep breath before outright surprising me.

"You're a beater, ye?"

I was caught off guard by his almost-total bluntness, but even more so that he knew that fact. I didn't indicate anything though (At least, I THINK I didn't indicate it). "O-oh? What exactly makes you say that?"

"I was curious about you a little bit after we met, honestly. You're strong, but you never seemed to take any of the leads in any raid or dungeon-clearing we've done; mainly staying in the back. Curious, at least to me." He started. "...I-I also apologize for-for this, but I was able to-to see your stat screen over your shoulder on one of our past outings with the guilds."

The surprise must have been plain on my face, because Phantom started bouncing his knee after we made direct eye contact. "Er...how to put this...I knew you were strong and you had your reasons for keeping it secret, but after I mentioned this to a friend of mine, he knew who you were. Not personally mind you, although he mentioned there being a player exactly like you on the First Floor boss. Someone who claimed to be a beater. Probably the ONLY beater."

So that was it. I let out a small sight. I was found out. "Phantom, I can explain-"

"Your secret is safe." He told me. I blinked once. Then twice.

"...What?"

"While I'm not a beater, I haven't been squeaky clean honest either." He told me, opening his menu and flipping it over to me. Peering at it, I saw something that made my eyes widen.

"You're...level 37?" I asked. He was 10 levels below me, but still. His level was much higher than the other Moonlit Black Cat's average.

He nodded to me. "Ye. Though I kept my own level secret for reasons different from your own, I thought I might as well tell you since you're like me in this way." His knee started to bounce some more. "Along with the fact that I really wanted confirmation on my theory."

...

I must have slept in too late, because when I woke up and went to find my guildmates, I didn't find them in any of the rooms or in the main tavern. Confused as to where they were, I shot Keita a message asking where he and the others were. The response I got made him seem like he was ticked at first, but in a good mood all the same.

 _Well, if you actually went to the meeting last night, you would know! Suppose that's what you get. Anyways, TL;DR, we got enough money to actually buy our guild a base! I'm out looking for one now, but the rest of the guild should be in Taft Square. I'll tell them to wait for you, but you have to promise me to actually be a more active part of this guild. Wouldn't do good to slack off while everyone is doing the work!_

 _Side note, thanks again for training Sachi yesterday. She seemed a bit more enthused than her usual._

 _-Keita_

I was legitimately surprised by that last statement. If anything, Sachi seemed to be even more down when I found her last night. I didn't expect her to be "a bit more enthused."

Simply closing out the letter, I exited the tavern and went to Taft Square, looking around for any indication of my other guildmates. Soon enough, I was able to spot them by being able to see Ducker's bright yellow cloak. I've no idea why it's always him that I pick out from the rest, except maybe Sachi.

"Hey, Phantom!" Ducker exclaims, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Slept in, huh?"

"Yea. I did I suppose." I told him. "So...Keita's getting a house for us?" I asked.

Ducker slapped my back (which packed some punch, getting a small "Oof!" out of me) while replying, "Yea, we just saw the guy off! We were actually talking about going to some higher floors to grab some extra cash for furniture!"

"I actually think that we're better off sticking with our usual floors." Kirito chimed in.

Tetsuo laughed it off saying, "I think we'll be fine. We've been working really hard, and I think that our levels are good enough so that we won't be easily killed.

"Yea!" Sasamaru added. "Come on, Kirito? What're you afraid of? You're with us, right Phantom?"

"I...er…" I didn't like being put on the spot like that, and I saw Kirito's look. I knew why he didn't really want to go to the higher floors, but…

I looked around at the other guild members, and I saw the expectant looks on their faces. They were really intent on going. I suppose they WERE rather experienced by now to face a challenge...and I remembered the last time we all did something like this. It was actually really fun.

In most of my time here, I didn't really try all that much to connect with them. I mostly said "How're you doing?" or the like. If I was being honest, this was partly the reason I skipped half of the guild meetings. I didn't really feel comfortable around them.

Maybe they saw me the same way Sachi saw me though...In that case, I wanted to show them all that I could be something more than another guildmate. They were all close friends already, and I still felt like an intruder in this sense. Perhaps I could use this chance to try and strengthen our friendships.

Besides, it'd be a shame to ruin their expectations.

"...Yea sure, I don't see why not myself." I told them. Kirito simply sighed at this.

"...Alright, fine. Let's just make sure to be extra careful."

…

We were up on Floor 27, one of the more recent floors cleared by the assault team, and I had to say that everything was going better than expected. Between Ducker and I, we were able to find a good amount of treasure in the area. Everyone was able to fight well, even Sachi who was lucky enough to level up after defeating what was left of a monster after Tetsuo and Kirito took out the bulk of its HP.

We laughed, we talked while searching, it was all in all a good time.

It was honestly one of the few times since entering this world where I felt like I had an actual family, except maybe with Mataras and Saphira.

"Man, this is going great so far!" Sasamaru said out loud as we walked down a dungeon corridor.

Ducker let out a small chuckle. "I have to agree. At the pace we're going, We'll be able to join the assault team in no time!"

I laughed. "First we're going to have to get home with all this loot, Ducker. I personally think we've gotten enough for the day."

The others all agreed (Kirito arguably most of all), and we started making our way back. Looking around, I saw Sachi was a little bit behind us, and I made a decision in my mind that I had been thinking about for a while.

Slowing down to let Sachi catch up with me, we were soon walking side by side. A few moments passed.

I took a deep breath. "Um...Sachi?" I started hesitantly.

"Hm? Yes Phantom?" She asked, looking to me with a questioning look on her face.

I was about to tell her when Ducker noticed something ahead of us and jogged to one of the walls a good feet away. "What have we here?" He said out loud.

Watching him and where he ended up, I could tell exactly what it was that he was doing; A hidden door that my own treasure-hunting skill picked up when I noticed him.

When the door opened itself, revealing the secret to the others, it revealed a single chest in a giant spacious room.

Obviously it had some type of trap.

"Um, maybe I should-" Before I could finish my sentence, the others ran in, and Ducker was on his knees in excitement, preparing to open the chest.

I was told that I sometimes overreact when something I don't plan on happens, like dropping something heavy or the like, but I felt my pulse practically spike when he opened that chest. "NO WAIT!" I tried to tell him, running into the room with Kirito right behind, but it was too late. He opened the chest.

At that moment, the room was filled with red light and an alarm went off and the door slammed shut behind us. My blood ran cold as the room started to fill with spawning golems and goblins.

"Teleport crystals! Hurry!" Kirito practically shouted.

"Teleport: Taft!" Ducker said in a panicked voice. Nothing happened. He tried again.

"Our crystals aren't working." I breathed to myself.

Tetsuo let out a nervous laugh. "I mean, C'mon guys. These guys, they can't be THAT hard!" He told us. He laughed again with more confidence. "Now, we gotta fight our way out!" He lunged at one of the golems. "Attack!" He let out a battle cry as he slashed at the golem.

The 'attack' he performed lowered the golem's health by a seventh at best, and the monster turned to him and threw his rocky arms down on Tetsuo, which caused him to fall to the ground with a cry of pain, before he shattered into pieces.

My eyes widened. "No…" Taking my own sword, I started swinging at all the enemies I could see. Turning to my other guildmates, I watched in horror as Ducker was quickly mobbed by several goblins who all repeatedly stabbed him to death with their pickaxes. Adrenaline spiked my system as I tried to keep ahold of myself.

"Stop!" I shouted as I fought and slashed my way through the golems and the goblins. I couldn't see Sasamaru anywhere, but I saw Kirito and Sachi a short distance away fighting the enemies to the best of their abilities, Kirito moreso.

"Guys!" I shouted over the chaos happening. "We can get through this! Just keep fighting!"

"O-Okay!" Sachi responded in a terrified and desperate voice. "I'm scared, but-but I trust-"

"Sachi!" Kirito screamed, hand outreached towards her, a look of panic on his face. I looked to exactly where he was looking, and the color drained from my face. There was a golem right behind her about to strike.

 _No..._

Kirito was trying to make it to her, but they were too far apart. He was too slow.

Time seemed to slow down for me though in those few moments.

 _NO!_

As fast as the very wind itself, my avatar glowed silver as I sped over to where Sachi was in what could only be the blink of an eye and brought my sword up to block the attack. I was too slow though as the attack went directly to me instead of Sachi, ripping my scarf in half making it shatter.

Turning around and locking eyes with Sachi, I told her, "Stay behind me."

…

It was a long and tough battle, but the three of us somehow managed to defeat all of them. We all crumpled to the ground, utterly exhausted. Our swords clattered against the crystalline floor.

There was nothing but silence between us for several moments, until Sachi was the one who broke it.

"Phantom...Thank you. For saving me." I simply nodded my head.

"I'm sorry...I quietly whispered. "I couldn't...I couldn't save them."

Sachi shook her head. "You and Kirito did all that you could. You have nothing to be sorry for."

"No. We didn't. We didn't tell you our true levels. If we did, then maybe the rest of them would have survived." Kirito tells her.

"Why didn't you tell us you were higher levels?" She asked suddenly. The tone in her voice wasn't malicious though. It seemed like legitimate curiosity.

Kirito answered first. "You know of the term, 'beater,' right?" She nodded slowly. "I'm the beater. I was afraid if you knew my true level and identity, then you guys wouldn't want me around. You all looked like you were good friends. I wanted to be a part of that without you looking at me differently.

I sighed. "I didn't want to-to have the team depend on me-me or my levels for their fights. Al-also, if I'm being honest...same as Kirito.I didn't want you all to think of me as anything different than yourselves." I darkly chuckled to myself. "But I suppose I was wrong on that front."

Sachi looked at me with a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

At first I didn't say anything, but I soon told her. "I heard you and Kirito the other night. About how I terrified you. About how...how I'm basically the outlier of the group." This was one of those times where I was glad I was wearing a mask. "Doesn't matter now I suppose. Now that they're…" I didn't finish the sentence. I looked down at the ground in shame.

"Phantom." I looked back up at her. "I'm truly sorry I said that about you that night. I want you to know I was just scared at the time. I...I'm sorry."

I was about to say something, but then we all got a message from Keita. Basically saying that he was able to get a house on floor 4 and he was wondering why Ducker, Tetsuo and Sasamaru disappeared from his friends list.

I think that all of us felt the same sinking feeling in the pits of our stomachs. Looking between Kirito and Sachi, my mind wandered to the times when I watched his interactions with the guild.

He was able to connect with them all much better than I ever did, not to mention that he had been with the guild longer than I had. They were his best friends from what I knew about him.

I also knew that the one who told Keita the news about this would most likely be the one to bear the brunt of the blame. At least that's what my still-panicked mind told me.

I made my decision.

"...I'll tell him. Don't worry."

…

"They...they died?" Keita asked in an unbelieving voice. I simply nodded my head. He took a step back, and I thought he would stagger or some other. Surprisingly He didn't. I would have.

"But…" he started again. "...Why are the three of you still alive?"

It was now or never.

I took a deep breath. "Keita...I-I'm sorry, but Kirito and I are-are higher levels than the rest of the-the guild. The only other reason we-we were able to survive was...because I-I'm a Beater."

As soon as the words crossed my lips, Keira's face instantly changed to one of shocked horror. A face that will always be burned into my memory.

I was also surprised that Kirito didn't speak up at all, because I was sure he knew I was lying to cover for him. I don't know why, and I still don't know why.

Either way, Keita soon found it in himself to speak again. "You...You're a Beater." Nothing from me. "You had no right to be with us!" Still nothing.

He turned to Kirito, still horrified. "You! Even if you didn't tell us your level, why didn't you save them?! You could have done something-!"

"They did everything they could, Keita!" Sachi spoke up, catching me off guard. "Without them, I wouldn't have made it out alive!"

Keita looked like he was going to shout something again, but his arm holding the keys went limp, dropping them on the cobblestone walkway. "You killed them...The day you joined us...you killed them."

He then walked over to the railing of the floor, climbing over it. Eyes widening, I tried running to him to stop him from jumping, but it was too late.

"Keita!" Sachi screamed, running towards the edge when Kirito grabbed her. She stared him in the eyes. "What are you doing?!"

"We've lost enough lives today." He calmly replied. Sachi's eyes welled up with tears as she hugged Kirito, who reciprocated.

While they were together, helping each other through the grief, neither noticed me slip away until a short time later, when standing in the same spot they got a notification saying that Phantom left the Moonlit Black Cats.

…

 **WHEW! That was a long chapter!**

 **In all honesty, I didn't mean to get this chapter out this late. I meant to have it out a few days ago to give me time to write the Christmas chapter, but thing after thing piled up (And by thing, I mean Kingdom Hearts. Lots of Kingdom Hearts). SO yea.**

 **Consider this a Christmas present, but also expect the actual Christmas chapter in a few days, as counter-intuitive as that sounds; a Christmas chapter sometime after Christmas.**

 **Anyways, I gotta go watch The Muppets Christmas Carol as has been family tradition on Christmas Eve for literally as long as I can remember, so Adieu.**

 **Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a wonderful time with family and the Lord!**

 **-Silver**


	8. Chapter 8: Ember

Chapter 8: Ember

…

Fall is an interesting season. It's arguably the season that contains the most universal change. Not like the reawakening of spring, or the life of summer, but fall acts as the precursor to winter. Where there's no life to be found.

In some morbid sense, Fall was the harbinger to death.

The red and yellow leaves crunched underneath my feet as I made my way through a forest on floor 32. It was a minor floor for all intents and purposes, but a lot of people liked to come here because of how seasonal it was this time of year. The forest was filled with a mixture of maple and birch trees, and each tree seemed to be perfectly positioned to create the ideal atmosphere. Or that could be just me thinking that.

I like to think it helped my mental state with how it currently was. My head hurt slightly, and I could feel my eyes becoming heavier and heavier with each step. The tip of the sword that I carried was dragging slightly across the ground, catching the occasional autumn leaf.

My head tilted slightly when I saw a cluster of leaves rise off the ground and form a small cluster. They shifted and moved until the leaves eventually formed the shape of a wolf with glowing yellow eyes, which let out a low snarl towards me. A small HP bar appeared above the wolf's head, which read " _Autumn Wolf._ "

I let out a small sigh as I lifted the sword up to prepare for combat, which felt slightly heavier than normal. The Autumn Wolf let out a small roar before running at me, preparing to leap and bite me. The moment it left the ground, I sidestepped out of the way, swinging my sword upwards in a vertical slice through the monster of red and gold.

The sword cut through as if the beast was literal butter, causing a miniature flurry of leaves to fly off of the wolf, leaving a gaping hole in its stomach. It hit the ground with a small thud, rolling once before it stopped and was able to get back to its feet, letting out a growl.

Lazily looking to the HP bar, I saw that the slice took away a quarter of its health. My eyes glazed over to a small flutter of leaves that skittered on the ground in a rush, before joining the wolf's underside, restoring it to make it seem as if no damage was done. The HP gauge didn't change however.

Running forward, I raised my blade horizontally to myself, planning to cut the beast wide open. In my carelessness however, the Autumn Wolf took this opportunity to take another leap at me, causing both of us to tumble to the ground, the wolf on my chest, opening its maw.

It plunged its head down to bite my face, but I moved my head to the side, finding my sword at my side, attempting a slash at the wolf. It didn't do nearly as much damage since it was an awkward swing at something on top of me, but it had the intended effect of making the wolf jump away to try and avoid damage, freeing me.

Quickly getting to my feet, I turned to see the Autumn Wolf ready to jump at me again, but as it leapt in the air, I plunged my sword straight into its gaping maw. I believe it would have let out some kind of cry if it could, but all I saw was the shock in its eyes, and those same eyes growing dimmer and dimmer until they were non-existent.

Moments after the wolf finally went limp, its body fell apart, the leaves blowing gently in the autumn wind. I put away my sword with a quiet sigh, and continued walking on as if the fight never even happened.

The sun was getting low in the sky, and while that usually meant that more monsters appeared than normal, I wasn't that concerned. The woods had more than enough cover. Besides, seeing the red sky behind a small layer of colored leaves and trees was worth the risk.

Looking at the view, I took a deep breath of satisfaction. No sooner had I taken this breath when something else became apparent to me.

 _That scent…_ I thought to myself. _Is that...smoke?_

My feet stopped, and I stood still, trying to find out what the source of the scent was, or if it was a problem, being in a forest and all. A few more whifs. _The scent doesn't seem like a fire out of control, just something small...although I could be wrong-_

The thoughts in my head stopped immediately. I shook my head, eliminating any ideas of deduction from my mind. A moment later, I decided to keep walking and see if I could just find out where the scent was coming from.

It wasn't long after where after wandering around, with only the smoke's scent to guide me, that I started to hear the crackling of a fire. It didn't sound like it was out of control though. After walking around two or three more trees, I finally found the source of what I smelled:

In a small clearing, there was a small campfire that seemed like it was well kept. Sitting against a birch tree, staring into the gentle flames, was a girl holding her cloak around herself like a blanket. A simple longsword and circular wooden shield lay beside her.

When I stepped into view of her, she practically jumped up in place, her hand gripping her sword's hilt which easily slid out of its sheath. I was surprised to find that it wasn't a longsword at all, but rather an estoc. Intriguing.

I simply stood there without reacting, my glazed eyes looking her over. "That...that fire looks… looks cozy. Is it?"

"Well…" she started, not knowing how to respond. She moved a strand of her short, wavy brown hair out of her face. "I mean...yes, it is."

I let out a small yawn. "Is...is it alright if...if I join you?"

She looked at me with a slightly puzzled expression. "May I ask who you are?"

"Oh, no...nobody you...you'd know." I responded, plopping down next to the fire without waiting for permission. "But if you...you want...want a name, I...I suppose you can...can call me Phantom."

She slowly sat back down in her original spot, estoc still out of its sheath. "That's...an odd name."

"I've met...met people named...named Noobmaster...master69 and BallsDeep69. Trust me when...when I say there's more...more odd names out...out there."

I stared intently at the flames as it became quiet. I don't know if the other person thought it was awkward, but I felt at home.

"You looking for the tower?"

I looked back up to her, the fire's light being reflected by her light face. She had something of a serious look in her eyes. Not really interested in the question, I look back to the flames, readjusting my mask.

This must not have been enough for her to stop, because she asks me again. "The event people are saying is on this floor, the Tower of Thanatos. You looking for it?"

"What makes you think I'd be looking for it?"

She scoffs at me. "So a random player walking around in the woods isn't looking for possibly the biggest reward this game has to offer?"

The flames flicker to and fro, looking almost like there's people dancing within them. "Are you?" I quietly respond?

The sound of her voice finally ceases. Not long after, the sound of a sword being sheathed follows. "Of course I am."

"Why?"

"...Pardon me?"

The wind gave a slight breeze, scattering a handful of leaves. "People like you…" a grim smile creeps up on my face. In the growing darkness and light of the dancing flames, it must have been I was starting to look like a ghost. "...People like you need to learn to love this world."

The only sounds that could be heard was the occasional blowing wind and the crackling flames. In the distance the sun was only barely visible over the horizon.

I broke the silence. "You shouldn't be here." The grim smile was still present. In the corner of my vision I saw her hand once again grip her sword's hilt.

"...What do you mean by that?"

"I wasn't referring to you."

A few moments pass where nothing happens other than the occasional glance around by the girl. "Shouldn't you be with your brother?

I hardly hear the leaves crunching under feet, almost as if the steps are light as feathers. I then hear a familiar voice. "You practically vanished off the face of Aincrad. We've both been looking for you for the past month."

"That probably should've told you something."

Instead of giving a response, she looked between me and the girl in the dim light of the flames. "Who's your friend?"

"We're not friends." The girl quickly spoke. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but for some reason she stayed quiet.

I simply shrugged, standing up to face Saphira. "I must be off." Turning around and starting to trudge away, I felt a firm grip on my arm which caused my movement to stop, almost jolting it. "Let go."

"Into the dark of the night?"

"I'll have the moon."

"...You've certainly gotten better with your words."

"You and Mataras have that effect on me when you're around."

Looking back and seeing Saphira's stone grip on my arm, I also saw her stone face. A look of determination was in her eyes. The same look I saw in her when we first battled side by side in the temple underneath the depths.

I had completely forgotten about the girl sitting by the fire though. She seemed nervous, almost awkward. I couldn't blame her.

I sighed. "I just wanna be left alone. Is that too much?"

Saphira didn't respond. She simply continued to stare at me. For a moment, anyways, before she sighed and let go.

"You can talk to us, you know? We're your friends." I said nothing. "Meet us at the Zephyr by tomorrow at 10. If not...Well, I promised my brother an ultimatum before he got his way." She opened up her menu, scrolling through her inventory.

I raise my eyebrow. "What, is your brother going to beat me into submission if I don't talk with him?"

A familiar blue teleport crystal materialized in her hands. The barest shadow of a smirk found its way on her face before saying "Spoilers. Teleport: Wileris."

In a flash of blue light, she was gone sooner than she appeared.

I blinked a few times. The girl who was sitting was getting back on her feet, strapping her sword to her left side. "Well, that was interesting to watch. Im going."

She walked away from the fire, towards the direction of the now-slightly-risen full moon.

"To the...to the tower?"

No response.

"What a coin...a coincidence. That's where I...where I'm also going." I lightly jogged to catch up with her. The expression on her face betrayed a hint of distaste, but she otherwise said nothing.

We walked in silence, except for enemies spawning every few minutes. They weren't anything to write home about. Against a single person they were tricky. Two on one however exposed many of their weak points, so we took them out with ease.

She got a big chunk of the EXP though since we weren't technically in a party, and neither of us said anything to start one. She didn't say anything, I didn't say anything. She didn't make any sign she felt awkward, and neither did I.

We both liked to walk in silence, I discovered.

It wasn't long before the trees became less and less dense, eventually becoming an open circular clearing. At first glance, it seemed to be a couple miles long. But that wasn't the most interesting thing about it.

The most interesting thing about it was the fact that there were several groups of players. Some were standing and chatting, some were sitting down. A couple dozen groups from the look of it.

The full moon was also higher in the sky, although not at its peak.

I decided to break the long silence between me and the girl. "So, what do..what do you...do you know of...of the Tower of Than...Thanatos?"

She waited a moment. My eyes caught her finger tapping the estoc at her side. "Other than the fact that there's an incredible treasure at the top, and the tower itself only appears at a certain time? Not much."

I stayed silent. Argo's information seemed to correlate. _"It's an event tha' only appeared recently. A coup'la teams already tried ta clear it this month...though none 'ave made it back..."_ Her words rang in my head. _"Some inscriptions tha' were found in there claim the treasure allows one ta be…"_

"...Master of Death…" I spoke aloud in a whisper. If the girl heard me, she made no indication. Looking around at all the other players, it was no wonder that people were flocking to this event. The popular theory was that the descriptions meant the treasure granted its holder immunity to dying in this game. Whether or not the rumor was true, it still gave people hope.

And of course a giant thirst for treasure.

The full moon was higher in the sky now.

I turned to look at the girl next to me. "I don't...I don't think I...think I ever got...got your name."

She met my gaze, and all I could see now was indifference in her eyes. Mixed with it though...there was a spark of determination.

"Ember." She told me before facing back forwards. The sound of the night's wind and chatting players continued to surround us.

I hummed to myself. "You'd think with several teams trying this dungeon for 5 nights straight, someone would know what the treasure looked like…" I spoke aloud to no one in particular.

"From what I hear, no one's been able to defeat the boss." Ember spoke next to me.

"Huh...In that...in that case do you...do you wanna form...form a party?" I asked her. She raised an eyebrow at me. "It sounds like...sounds like alone you...you won't be able...be able to do what several...what several people in a party...in a party were unable...unable to do. At...at least alone.

Ember closed her eyes, breathing a sigh through her nose. "Sure. Why not?"

Swiping a finger through the air, I was able to send her a party request within moments. Her name shortly appeared next to mine in my HUD.

It wasn't a moment later when a loud gong echoed through the clearing, which was shortly followed by another gong.

The air seemed to shimmer as a large spot in the middle of the clearing seemed to shimmer. A third gong rang.

Then, as if an invisible hand was pulling at the ground like it was made of goop, the ground stretched and curled, swiftly becoming a bluish-green substance the minute it touched the air above it, growing taller and more complex as another gong sounded. Then another.

The goop twisted and curled, stretching and reforming, climbing higher and higher into the sky. It wasn't until the tenth gong where the goop solidified into a more distinguishable shape.

The eleventh gong sounded. A large tower stood before us, appearing higher than even the night's sky. It vibrated as if changing from a liquid to a solid was a difficulty.

By the time the twelfth gong sounded, there stood before us a massive stone tower that glowed with a greenish-blue light. From where I was standing, it hurt my neck to stare at the top. The very tip of the tower looked like it was touching the full moon that was at its peak in the sky.

No more gongs.

A piece of the tower's wall crumbled slowly into dust, revealing a large entryway into the tower.

This was my first time ever seeing the tower itself, and I must say that it was a spectacle to be sure.

All of the players that were standing around and chatting with each other minutes before were just starting to make their way into the entrance.

Wordlessly, without any acknowledgement of each other, Ember and I walked with the crowd, slowly making our way towards the tower's entrance.

As soon as we entered the darkness of the tower's entrance, the crowd of players that we were stuck in suddenly disappeared, as if they were never there to begin with. Ember and I stood within a giant hall filled with greenish-blue light. Looking behind me, there was a darkened archway that I can only presume led outside.

At the end of the hall, there was a tall staircase that ended at a small wooden door. But the most intriguing thing were the walls all around us.

They seemed to shimmer, even move up the tower, no doubt travelling to the top. It was as if the walls themselves were alive.

"Where…where did all…all the players go?" I said out loud.

Ember simply shrugged and walked forward, drawing her estoc. "The game probably only allows parties to stay together. So it wouldn't be crowded."

Ah. That makes sense.

Starting to follow her towards the stairway, I felt something. That sinking feeling in my gut that you get whenever you have a bad feeling. Or rather, in my case, when you're being watched.

A chill ran down my spine as I froze mid-footstep. Almost hesitantly, my eyes darted around the area in front of me, trying to spy the source of my unease. When the only person I could see was Ember, I swerved around, taking in the part of the room that was behind me.

Nothing.

"Hey. You coming?" Facing back forward, Ember's bored expression on her face yanked me back into reality. I blinked. The unnerving sensation of someone watching me left as swiftly as it came.

"Yea...I'm coming. Sorry about...about that." My legs went into a slow jog.

By the time we had already cleared around 10 floors of the tower, things seemed to get weirder and weirder. Not just from a literal tower of death itself, but from...well, a gameplay standpoint.

One of the reasons no one had gotten the treasure at the top yet was because the boss was extremely difficult. However, if that was the case then why were the enemies on the lower floors...easier?

Ember and I made short work of the enemy mobs of skeletons and undead zombies, but they seemed to be pathetically easy. The wolves in the forest outside the tower were easier than these things.

"Hya!" Ember's war cry echoed through the chamber we were in as she thrust her estoc through the eye socket of a skeleton, separating the skull from the backbone causing it to disintegrate. She gave a swift kick to the ribcage, causing the rest of the bones to fall on the floor, motionless.

Wordlessly, I pulled my own sword out of the bag of rotten flesh that used to be an undead, sheathing it and letting out a sigh.

Almost immediately, Ember started to pace towards the hallway at the end of the chamber. "Hurry up." She spoke almost a little too fast. "We need to get a move on."

Following her into the dimly lit hallway, with only the light from the walls to guide us, I half expected some stronger enemy to jump us from the shadows. Alas, that did not happen. It was starting to seriously concern me that we were this high up, and nothing had been overtly challenging. At least considering the last time I entered a dungeon like this was in the Abyssal Ruins.

I finally decided to voice my concerns. "Doesn't...doesn't the fact that...that the enemies we fought...we fought have been...been rather...weak bother you?"

"No. Should it?" She responded without even breaking her pace or turning to look back at me.

"Well…" I start. "...Wouldn't we have...we have a harder...harder time with this since...with this since other players have had...have had difficulty in...in the past five days...five days since this tower...this tower becoming available?"

Ember's footsteps echo through the corridor. "The desperate race and claw at each other for any semblance of deliverance." She responds. Her voice held something akin to contempt. "They were either too weak, or they didn't think."

My footsteps slowed. "So...so you think you're...you're better than every...than everyone else. That...that it?"

The sound of her footsteps ceased, causing me to bump into her. She didn't acknowledge it. It was a few seconds before she spoke again. "Only the best of us can get out." Her voice was quiet. At least more quiet than when she previously spoke to me. "Over two thousand were too weak."

I didn't say anything. Actually, I didn't _want_ to say anything. When nothing else was spoken between us for a minute or so, she simply continued to walk on, with me on her heels.

It wasn't that long before we discovered another spiral staircase going up, something that we've encountered on every other floor so far. Once we scaled it and reached the next floor, we found something that we hadn't seen within the tower so far.

A large gaping chamber with no discernable pathways out of it. Any idiot's brain would instantly jump to "boss."

Likely having the same thought, Ember drew her estoc and got in a ready stance. "Think we're at the top?"

"...Probably." I respond, drawing my own sword. My eyes darted around the room, wondering if there really was some enemy or boss that we were supposed to fight. If the boss was supposed to be currently undefeated…and yet there was nothing. No boss, no nothing. It was unnerving. The room and it's design seemed to indicate that something was supposed to be here. Unless…

My head slowly tilted up, eyes creepy up the walls until they finally reached the ceiling. Instead of something being perched above our heads, there was nothing but the arched ceiling.

"...Something isn't right." Ember quietly muttered under her breath. "Something should-"

From across the room, appearing literally from thin air came what initially looked like giant metal shards. In a fraction of a second, they stretched and uncoiled while staying in a straight line.

Unceremoniously, they impaled Ember straight through the stomach as she let out a small cry of surprise. It was now obvious that the shards, now completely still, were visibly connected by some kind of metal wire. Slowly turning her head to look at me, I saw a look of horror and fear carved on Ember's face. Her HP bar in the top-left corner of my vision had dipped well under half from that single attack alone.

"Hel-" Not even allowing her to finish her plea, the shards retracted from her stomach in a violent manner. In doing so, they cut Ember clean in half, her pixelated blood spraying everywhere she was standing, including my self.

I let out an involuntary gasp of surprise as the event played out before my eyes, even taking an unstead step back, causing me to fall on my bottom and drop my sword besides me. Ember's health dropped to zero, and the bloody remains of her body shattered.

I might not have known her for even a few hours but seeing someone lose their life in front of me made my adrenaline spike, causing my fear response to kick in.

My breath quickened. I wrenched my eyes to the place where Ember died to the other side of the room, where I now saw a giant buster sword being swung in a circular motion with no one wielding it.

At least, that's what I thought at first. Mere seconds later, a figure who was hidden under a large brown cloak fizzled into and out of existence, almost as if he was a bug in the game and not an actual person. I couldn't see his face, obscured by the shadows of the cloak. Almost as if he knew my fear was in high gear, he continued to swing his sword while leisurely meandering towards me.

In an attempt to flee him, I scrambled to my feet while trying to run, grabbing my sword in the process, only to come face to face with the stone wall of the circular dome.

"Oh, Phantom…" The figure said. "Is that what you're calling yourself now?" His voice was layered, making him sound like he was speaking several different voices at once. At this point I didn't know if the figure was a he or a she.

"You...you make it sound like...sound like you...you know me." I said through fast breaths. I gripped my longsword with both hands, going into what I thought was a protective stance.

The figure laughed a horrible laugh. He stopped swinging his buster sword, hefting it on his shoulder with a smoothness that was unnerving. It was too fluid, too perfect to be anything human. "So, you've turned into a cowering little boy in denial while I've been away? You disappoint me." The last three words he spoke were dripping with venomous contempt.

"I don't...I-I don't know-know you. Not a...not a chance in...in all of...of Ain...Aincrad."

What he spoke next was something I would never have expected. His voice, which was garbled and layered suddenly became monophonous and clear.

"There's always a chance, Phantom, as long as one can think."

The moment my mind processed those words, I could virtually feel my heart rate spike again. My heart was beating out of my chest. I was borderline hyperventilating. My iron grip on my sword slackened to the point where I couldn't hold my sword anymore.

I didn't register the _clang_ of steel hitting stone. The figure in front of me was all that mattered. I took a couple of unconscious steps back, eventually being stopped by the stone cold wall behind me, whose cold seemed to envelope me whole.

"N...n...no..." I spoke through my hyperventilating breath. "N...not...not...you…"

He started laughing again through his clear voice. At first it was just a few chuckles. Those chuckles turned into laughter. That laughter turned maniacal. He lifted his buster sword off his shoulder, stabbing it into the ground beside him. In his maniacal laughter, I could barely see his eyes underneath his hood.

Eyes I thought I'd never see again.

I dropped to my knees. My hyperventilating turned into screaming as I bowed my head, my arms holding me up from falling completely on the floor.

In the corner of my eyes, I saw the figure wrench his buster sword out of the ground, and with a flick of the wrist, the sword transformed from a straight blade to many different pieces connected by a silver wire. A whip.

With an extravagant motion and perfect fluidity of body, he kept laughing maniacally as he swung the bladed whip down on my shaking body.

My eyes shot open as I screamed into the silence hanging in the air, completely breaking it. I was lying down. And freezing.

And alive.

I stopped screaming, but my breathing was quick, not quite the hyperventilating that I felt moments ago. I tried to force myself to calm down, but the scene that I witnessed kept repeating on loop in my head. The robed figure. That was…

 _Stop!_ The voice in my head told me. My breathing still hadn't slowed down. I forced myself to swallow as I snapped my eyes shut. In an effort to blot out that horrible scene, I focused myself to draw a picture in my head. The place I always went to when I was upset.

Lines turned into an island surrounded by mist, floating above the ocean. The saltwater crashed against the craggs of the coastline. Silver clouds blocked out the entirety of the sky, but despite the lack of sunlight, green grass and elden twisted oak trees dotted the surface.

My breathing started slowing down. As soon as I was able to breathe easy again, I slowly cracked my eyes open.

While I already knew I was lying on my back, I didn't realize that there was a familiar figure on her back laying right next to me: Ember. She was alive.

She was alive. Internally I let out a massive sigh of relief. That confirmed what I saw wasn't real.

But if it wasn't real...what exactly was it?

A cold wind blew over my probe body, and it was only now I realized that the wind had always been there since I woke up. Wind…why did that seem...off?

The clockworks in my mind started turning as I finally grasped the contradiction that was naggin in the back of my mind. _Why would there be strong wind within an enclosed tower?_

Letting out a small groan, I pulled myself into the sitting position, and that's when I noticed the biggest change in our surroundings: We were in what looked like a large circular open pavilion, with curved pillars at the circle's edge holding up the domed ceiling. The starry night sky and the light of the full moon shone just past the pillars. At the center of the pavilion stood what seemed to be the center of the pavilion sat a somewhat-large throne of stone. It was incredibly plain, and the only thing of note about it was that its back reached rather high, but not quite close enough to the ceiling.

Mainly because there was a giant bell suspended above our heads.

"Ah!" A high pitched voice yelled beside me. Hearing something other than the wind break the silence caused my body to jolt in surprise. Whipping my head around, Ember was swiftly sitting up in a shock with her hand outstretched in front of her, as if she was reaching to grab something. Her breathing was also quick-paced.

"It's...it's-it's ok." I tried to assure her, even though my own speech was incredibly shaky. I could feel a remnant of Adrenalin racing through my system. She turned and looked at me, eyes wide with the familiar emotion of terror. "It's-it's-it's ok." I repeated.

She stared at me. She continued to stare at me. It reached the point where it was getting unnerving.

 _Don't._ The little voice in the back of my head spoke to me, as if it knew that I wanted to try and find out what she was thinking. I wanted to observe. _Don't do it. You swore._

Despite the little voice, I was already thinking and observing, disregarding any internal conflict in response to the lingering adrenaline and fear.

Her eyes were what betrayed her the most. As she stared at me, I could easily tell what emotions were in her eyes: _shock_. She must have seen something else. I don't know what, but it left her in shock. _Fear. Wariness._ Also obvious. Even while sitting down, it's easy to tell that her body is stiff, something that happens when one is expecting to be attacked.

 _Stop it. Stop it!_ The little voice cut me off. I shut my eyes and brought my hand to my head, forcing myself to stop staring at her. Stop observing her.

I stayed like that for a few seconds, hoping to finally get the adrenaline out of me. When I brought down my hand and opened my eyes again, Ember was standing, looking around the pavilion where we were. She then walked over to the edge of the pavilion, placing a hand on the pillar and peering down. She then tilted her head up.

"We're at the top." She spoke in a shaky voice. She turned around to face me as I myself rose to my feet. "But...how? What WAS that?"

"Your deepest and darkest fears." A new voice calmly spoke.

We both turned to find the source of the new voice, and he was sitting on the throne that was empty mere milliseconds ago. He (at least I assume it was a he) was slouching, or at bare minimum it must have been his version of reclining. He was a figure that was covered by a large cloak that seemed to be made purely out of black feathers. I couldn't tell what he looked like, but under the hood of feathers I thought I could see someone's closed mouth. He gave off an aura of unease.

"Who...Who-who are...you-you?" I asked the figure

"I am known by many names, but I would believe you would know me best as the being of which this tower is named." His voice was smooth. It wasn't deep and menacing, but rather he spoke with an air of friendliness. It was the kind of voice that would tell you they had just baked chocolate chip cookies and would ask if you wanted some.

I heard the familiar _shing_ of a sword being drawn, and I looked back over to Ember, who had her estoc once again in hand. "You're Thanatos, then?"

The hood of the figure shifted slightly, most likely to look in Ember's direction. "I am." He casually stated as if he was talking of the weather. "I suppose you would call me the 'Boss of the dungeon.' So then, Ember. Phantom. Why are you here?"

"How...how did you...did you know...know our...our names?"

Thanatos chuckled to himself. "I know the names of all who enter my tower, masked one. Since I answered your question, would you answer my own? Please?"

Ember gripped her estoc in both hands, holding it in front of her. "You know very well why we're here. The treasure." Her voice was hard, almost angry. "We're not leaving without it."

A sigh escaped from underneath Thanatos's hood. "Are you sure?" He asked, a tinge of sadness in his voice. "There's still time to back out." Without any motion or indication, the floor at the edge of the pavilion slanted, with stair steps forming every other moment, turning into a spiral staircase down. "There's always time to-"

Ember sprinted across the floor, silent and deadly, and plunged her blade into the darkness of underneath Thanatos's hood.

Or at least that's what would have happened if a spectral hand didn't burst from the air above Thanatos's head, open and held up in the well-known "stop" gesture. What was most incredible about all of that though was the fact that the tip of Ember's estoc was stopped dead in its tracks by the spectral hand's palm.

"Very well." Thanatos spoke. The spectral hand poofed into thin air, causing a small gust of wind which forced Ember back.

It was at this point that Thanatos finally stood from his throne. When he did, his cloak started to unfurl from around him, as if they were pieces of cloth that were just bound around him. At first I thought he was simply using some form of magic, but as soon as his 'cloak' finished unfurling, I saw three pairs of giant black wings sprouting from his back.

Standing before us was a giant of a man, covered in what seemed to be obsidian armor, both jagged and rough while also being shiny and smooth. His and face were obscured by a smooth white porcelain mask which had a painted perfect smile stretching all across. His eyes were simply black holes that seemed worn around the edges, and black stains fell out from underneath them, almost as if they were tears.

In the center of the mask's eye holes flashed to yellow dots. Pinpricks, really. Staring into them made chills run down my spine. Although his entire face was covered, long shining white hair trailed from the back of his head, waving as if it was in water.

Stretching his left arm straight to the side, a single scythe materialized within his obsidian-clad hand. The scythe itself was rather simple in design: Leather bound every inch of the scythe's handle, while the pure white blade seemed to hang onto a pitch-black orb by a forked-piece of metal, which soon morphed into a single blade near the tip.

A single health bar appeared above the towering figure before us that read one word: Thanatos.

Without giving me anymore time to think, He rushed at me with speeds I hadn't seen before in this game, giving me a swift kick to the gut. This knocked all of the wind out of me, sending me flying across the pavilion. I most certainly would have gone over the edge if not for my colliding into one of the pillars. I heard a couple of cracking sounds as I struggled to inhale a single breath. I fell to my side, clutching my stomach in panic and trying desperately to take in a breath.

My eyes wandered up to my HUD just to evaluate if the damage was equal to the pain I was in, and I almost did a double take: My HP, which was near full mere seconds ago was already half gone.

My eyes wandered over to where I saw Ember with her estoc engaged in a deadly dance with Thanatos. While she wasn't getting many good hits in, She was doing what I thought was a good job of just evading his attacks. Most of which were punches and kicks. Not to say she didn't get hit every now and then, her health was already a quarter gone.

If this was the boss just using his own strength, I shuddered to think what would happen when He used his scythe.

After what felt like an eternity, I was finally able to breath and get back to my feet. I felt my legs shaking, both from all the adrenaline and from the fear. Steeling myself, I drew my own longsword and attempted to distract the god of death.

I threw a horizontal slice at him, hoping that it would be enough to get a good amount of HP out of him. The moment I thought it was going to connect however, a large staff blocked my sword. The handle. When I saw the scythe, I was tempted to jump away from him, but I thankfully didn't. Ember was on the other side of him, her estoc being blocked effortlessly at the tip by the palm of his obsidian gauntlet.

We were currently in a deadlock. Ember decided to break it a moment later when she quickly jumped back, following up with a thrust attack to the lower legs.

She managed to pierce his armor. Thanatos broke his own deadlock with me, using his six wings to blow both Ember and myself away from himself.

I gave ember a sideways glance. "Good shot."

She grimaced. "Not good enough." She said back. This caused me to look back to Thanatos's health bar, and my heart nearly sank: Ember's attack had only removed a handful of hit points from a boss that had a couple thousand.

Thanatos let out a heavy, drawn out sigh. "What makes you think you're worthy to claim my treasure?"

Ember again spoke up before I could say anything myself. "Because something pretending to be real doesn't deserve to be better than a true life." She jumped and threw herself once more at Thanatos, aiming her blade at the grinning mask.

In a single, swift movement, his right hand reached in front of his face and grabbed Ember's arm before she could impale him. Ember's grip remained on her sword as she lost momentum and now hung in midair, attempting to give a couple kicks to the masked being.

Another deep and heavy breath.

"Ember!" I tried to slice off the hand that was grippin her estoc, but my sword simply bounced off of the armor plating, causing me to be knocked back and my sword to fly from my hand. The other result of that is a couple of hit points being reduced from Thanatos.

His head slowly swiveled to stare at me, and when those pinpricks stared into my own eyes, more fear crept its way up my spine.

"...This 'pretender' is going to defeat just two more unworthy treasure hunters."

The scythe, through some transcendence of the laws of physics, spun in his left hand before he slashed right through Ember, cutting her legs clean off.

She let out a cry of agony, with both her sword being released from her grip and the two now-useless appendages hitting the ground with a thump.

Thanatos tossed Ember's body towards the edge of the pavilion where it unceremoniously tumbled towards the edge, and half of her upper body fell over the side with her arms holding her in place.

I didn't hear what she was saying, but Ember kept stuttering to herself as she tried to claw herself back within safety, but her efforts and her squirming made her slip even more over the side. Her eyes met mine.

My world froze.

All I saw in her pupils was the pure animalistic fear that one had when they knew they were going to die.

It was a look I had seen too many times before. Both here, in Aincrad, and…

I don't really know exactly what happened next. I don't know if I spoke, if I screamed, if Thanatos tried to stop me or simply stood still, or if it was either fear or guilt that engulfed me in that moment. All I do know is that I was laying down, half of me hanging over the edge and my lower half keeping me to the pavilion floor.

The most important thing though was that I had Ember's arm in a death grip. She was suspended hundreds, if not thousands of feet in the air, but she was safe.

She was almost hyperventilating at this point, and I was doing no better. Between breaths, I kept saying the same thing over and over again. "Safe...safe...safe...safe...safe...safe…"

However long the moment lasted, I felt something sharp and cold wrap itself around my leg and lift me up in the air. Still holding onto Ember for dear life, I saw first the armored black legs, then the breastplate, and finally I was held up to where my nose was almost touching the porcelain mask.

Thanatos let out another long, heavy breath as he stared into my being with those yellow pinpricks from the black, tear-stained eye holes. His scythe was nowhere in sight. With his other hand, he delicately reached up and peeled my own mask off my face, revealing to him my eyes that he most likely saw were full of terror. "Did you think you could win against the Master of Death, where countless others with much larger parties had failed?"

He spoke with the same beautiful voice that he spoke to us in when we first saw him, and that made seeing his face all the more unnerving. The fact that something so beautiful could come from something so twisted, so malignant.

"I...I didn't come up…come up here thinking...here thinking that at...that at all." I don't know how I found the nerve to speak, but ever since I had heard of this tower appearing, I needed to know something. Something I could only know by reaching the top. "Because….because you're not...you're not the Master...the Master of Death."

Thanatos let out a raspy breath, not as clear or composed as every other time. "Oh really, now?" 

"My mother…My mother told me that there was only one Master of Death. One who she taught me to know. I came up here to see if you really were who you said you were." I paused for a moment. "I don't recognize you."

The wind was the only thing that could be heard between us after I said that. I expected the boss would let us go sometime soon. There was no conceivable way we could defeat him.

Thanatos then threw me, sending both myself and Ember flying.

We hit the floor of the pavilion near the throne with a thud.

Legitimately, I was surprised. For all intents and purposes, we should've been dead.

"Every player that I've struck down had varying reactions to death." My eyes widened, and I tried to find Thanatos, who was still standing where he had thrown us. I tried to get up, but the most I could muster at this moment was on my knees. "They cried. They screamed. They even faced it head-on. However, they all shared one thing:"

Thanatos started walking over to where Ember and I were, and I noticed she was also trying to get up, despite being legless. She was only able to hold herself up by using her arms to push her up. Thanatos summoned his scythe in his left hand. "None of them understood death." He stood over the two of us. The weirdest thing is that while it was certainly menacing, there was a part of it that...wasn't.

He continued. "No one can truly understand or comprehend death, but you...Your eyes tell me that the one who seeked death by coming here understands death the most of all than those that tried to steal my treasure."

He lifted his scythe high in the air, and for a split second I believed he was going to slice me in two. He swung.

The stone throne behind me split in two with a resounding _CRACK_!

Thanatos withdrew his hand, leaving his scythe there in the broken chair before taking a step back.

He tilted his head to look at me through his mask once more, almost as if he was a child observing a new toy. Then, he held out his right hand, opening his palm face-down, where my mask fell to the floor with a metallic _chink!_

He turned his back to us, walking once more towards the edge of the pavilion. "I was instructed to only give my Treasure to the person who didn't actively seek it. I have fulfilled my role." What he said next was probably the most surprising thing I heard him say, and if I didn't believe he had some form of sentience, I did then.

"The one your mother taught you of...Soli deo Gloria." All six of his great black wings spread out around him, reaching to what seemed like the very diameter of the pavilion. He took a single step off the edge, and his wings let out a single powerful beat which sent him flying out of the tower. The gust didn't seem to affect me or Ember, but the speed of which Thanatos vanished, flying straight into what seemed to be towards the moon, was astounding.

"After that, Ember and I were forced-teleported out of the tower, along with what I assume was everyone else who entered." I was staring out of Cafe Zephyr, watching the endlessly falling rain putter against the window. Leaning completely in the corner of the booth, content with using as little space as possible. Across from me sat Saphira and Mataras, who were waiting for me when I first arrived here after my encounter in the tower.

"The tower collapsed, quite spectacularly if you ask me, and the two of us got out of there before anyone else noticed we had the treasure." I delicately picked up my cup of Hazelnut coffee in front of me, careful not to disturb my position, taking a sip and holding the warmth in my hands. "It cost something of a small fortune, but we were able to regenerate Ember's legs. We're keeping in touch in case we need each other again."

Mataras closed his eyes in thought. "And the scythe?"

My eyes moved to where I stood the scythe up (blade-down, thanks for asking) next to our booth, then back to Mataras. Thankfully it wasn't falling from its spot towards the floor. "What of it?"

"What's your plan for it? Save it or sell it, Treasure hunter?"

Another sip, and the feeling of warmth spread through my being. "I went through far too much trouble. Regardless if I wanted Deliverance when entering the tower or not, I'm not giving away something that almost got me and someone else killed."

My gaze returned to looking out the window. "That's everything that's happened since I left." The therapeutic sound of rain continued on as thoughts swirled around in my mind. One thought gained dominance, soon another one took its place. Ideas, one after the other, filled the space in my head.

"Phantom...why didn't you come to us when you...after your guild?" Saphira asked. I didn't say anything, focused on the window.

"Have you ever thought about what comes next?" I ask out loud, not really paying attention. "We clear Aincrad. Then what? Do things...just go back the way they were?"

I didn't hear, or simply didn't notice what they responded with. I hadn't noticed it before, but I felt lucid. More thoughts escaped through my mouth, the sound of rain practically encouraging me to continue. "Life out there...it's so dull and grey. In here…" My words paused. The lucid feeling in me stayed, agitating me. "Does anyone have dreams anymore? Do people hope to finish something in the world after Aincrad...It seems silly. You can do loads of things here…"

I continued. "Dreams...most of my family were filmmakers, you know? Directing, cinematography, writing, animating...we loved animation...It always started with our love of books and the pictures they painted...Seems so silly now. The family won't do stuff like that ever again."

"Why?"

The first word that I properly noticed from them, and it was a question that had an interesting answer. Shifting my view to look at the two again, I pondered the same question in my head.

"Because...We're in Aincrad." I responded after a minute. "Leaving Aincrad is...It's not happening."

Mataras's brow furrowed. "We're getting out of here, Phantom. I promise."

I close my eyes. "Are we, though? We're only 32 floors in. 24 percent of Aincrad's population is dead."

When I heard Mataras's voice, it wasn't his usual dark and broody tone, but rather simply really firm. "I refuse to stay here for the remainder of my life. We aren't meant to be here."

I only gave a simple response that was the summary of all my thoughts ever since our situation was completely revealed by our captor.

"Well, maybe we should be."

 **I bet you're thinking: FINALLY! A NEW CHAPTER! YES! MY DREAMS HAVE COME TRUE! Either that or you're thinking: This loser finally posted something new? Lazy butt.**

 **Anyways, I sincerely, SINCERELY apologize for the wait that's been over a year and two months, but long story short, I had severe writers block and just forgot about this story. I went through several different versions of this chapter, not being happy with any of the 4, until I wrote this version.**

 **Also I made it comparatively longer. Hope you like it.**

 **A lot has happened to me since the last update: I gained a job that I love, I was laid off of that same job a month ago due to circumstances out of my control (no hard feelings), I worked on a feature film, I watched a lot of anime, My brother proposed to his Fiance, and I updated this story. That's all off the top of my head, and it's already pretty great!**

 **Hopefully the next chapter won't be as long of a wait as this one, but I sincerely hope you love this chapter, and have a great day!**

 **-Silver**


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